The Unfortunates

Inspired by the classic and mysterious blues song, “St. James Infirmary,” made famous in the 1920s by Louis Armstrong, The Unfortunates tells the story of Big Joe, a stalwart, tough-talking soldier cursed with oversized hands, who journeys through a dream world in which he confronts a series of enemies and risks everything to save the armless courtesan Rae from the plague that has decimated all but a handful of survivors. The search for salvation is marked by the characters’ willingness to make music in the face of loss, and search for love in a time of desperation. Journeying from a prison camp to the underworld, The Unfortunates is a musical fever dream that’s as life-affirming as it is darkly imaginative.