Set in 1935, the play follows Attius, a long-term resident of Central State Hospital, one of several psychiatric institutions in the United States designated for Black patients labeled “insane and idiotic.” Within the hospital walls, the homeless, impoverished, ill, and criminally institutionalized are housed together under harsh conditions. Attius survives by building coffins for patients who die inside the institution, carrying out his work in isolation and resignation.

The arrival of two new patients disrupts the fragile routine he has constructed for himself. As relationships form and old hopes resurface, Attius begins to confront the possibility of a life beyond confinement. The play examines institutionalization, racial segregation, and the psychological cost of prolonged captivity within a historically specific system of care and control.