Lunch Bunch

LB Program

Underground Review

Dragon Fruit! Black Beluga Lentils! Perfectly Soft-Boiled Eggs! Amidst the distinct fear/feeling that the world is, always has been, always will be going to sh*t, seven public defenders seek meaning, belonging, and some semblance of order via their frenzied quest for the perfect lunch (bunch).

We are excited to start Available Light's 18th season with a witty and very human comedy. When people have asked us what "Lunch Bunch" is ultimately about we often find ourselves saying: it's about people trying their best. And "trying your best" is painfully relatable to anyone who has experienced the grind of a job that is equal parts high stakes and seemingly thankless. Empathy can feel like a burden when the wins are so heavily outnumbered by the losses. Burnout is real and hope can be hard to find. In these times we rely on small joys and community to keep us going. Our characters find their joys in food but also in the unintentional celebration of the mundane, in what we've come to call "office ballet."

On average, it is estimated that most people will spend 90,000 hours of their lives at work - if they work just under 35 hours a week. While a goal of art can often be to provide an escape, here, we ask you to come back to the office so that we can say something that many of us don't hear enough in those 90,000+ hours: thank you. Thank you for joining us, thank you for supporting Available Light Theatre and your local theatre community, thank you for the work you do in the world and the many ways you show up for those in your life. May we all receive the support we need. And, especially now, when we collectively feel just like the Lunch Bunch -- that the world "is, always has been, always will be going to shit" -- may we celebrate and support the often thankless but very necessary work of those in public service.
- Eleni Papaleonardos, Director; Ollie Worden, Assistant Director