The play involves only two nameless characters, designated "White" and "Black", their respective skin colors. Offstage, just before the play begins, Black saves White from throwing himself in front of a train. The title, The
Sunset Limited, is derived from the name of a passenger train that travels from New Orleans to Los Angeles. All of the action takes place in Black's sparse apartment, where the characters go (at the behest of Black) after their encounter on the platform. Black is an ex-convict and an
evangelical Christian. White is an
atheist and a
professor. They debate the meaning of human suffering, the existence of God, and the propriety of White's attempted suicide.
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