Set in the impoverished underbelly of 1880s New York City, the intense drama follows a group of young people through their daily struggle for survival in the slums of lower Manhattan. Mullen's Alley is the fourth play in a five-play cycle of new work commissioned from Timothy Mason under the Young Conservatory's New Plays Program. Past plays in the series include Ascension Day (1990), The Less Than Human Club (1994), and Time on Fire (2000).