Ham, a West Texas meatpacker, longs for a promotion. He will do anything to get it. Beleaguered by his grim career, eccentric libertarian coworker, and stalled long-distance relationship with a woman 30 years his senior, Ham is plagued by the looming presence of his manager and visions of his dead mother. MEAT fleshes out the unsustainable nature of capitalism, climbing the ladder, and a hunger for your own piece of the pie.

It is often difficult to wrestle with the environmental impact that our daily lives and our work have—especially in theater, where so many resources are needed to develop sets, props, and costumes that are only used for a short amount of time. Trashfest centers work that produces no waste by reusing materials discarded as garbage.”

Trashfest at The Tank, July 2026