Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz

Lonely Planet revolves around two gay men, Jody and Carl, in a map store in an American city. The play, essentially, is an exploration of truth and its close relations, dream and memory. When Jody and Carl need to connect, they play “the truth game.” Jody recounts the plots of his dreams, which spur him to face the world as it is. The two friends consider how little they know of each other, how their ideas of each other are really an invention. We begin to discover that they create these realities to help each other cope with a troubling world and the disease that is crippling their community.

Lonely Planet explores the idea that we can’t change the world, but we can remember the truth of it, as accurately and as respectfully as we can. And to remember the world’s truth is to remember its people, the Carls and Jodys on the periphery of our distorted maps.