The Garden is a psychological, operatic thriller which follows Hayden Loralai (played by Walken Schweigert), a young trans man put into conversion therapy against his will. In his desperation to escape conversion therapy, he opens a portal into hell where he hopes to find sanctuary with The Devil (played by Katie Burgess) from the horrors of the clinic. Instead he finds himself thrust into the midst of a spiritual and existential battle where he must learn to reclaim what he has been taught to fear if he is going to survive at all...

One cannot escape from The Garden by running from or denying one’s fears. The only way to conquer our fears is to face them. The only way out of hell is through it. The Garden was composed by Walken Schweigert, primarily on the hurdy gurdy. The hurdy gurdy purchase and subsequent compositions for The Garden were made possible in part by a JFund Award from the American Composers Forum.