About the Play

America is only a few years into the future. Following a devastating national crisis, sweeping anti-immigration policies have evolved into martial law, mass detentions, and an unspeakable humanitarian tragedy. As a former prison superintendent awaits sentencing for his role in those events, a determined historian visits him in search of the truth.

What begins as an interview becomes a gripping psychological confrontation that explores fear, responsibility, power, and the fragile boundaries that separate democracy from authoritarianism. Written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, Building the Wall is a tense, provocative drama that asks audiences not what happened—but how it could happen.

Actors may either perform a contemporary dramatic monologue (approximately 1–2 minutes), read from side selection.