During their two-year expedition to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase in the early part of the 19th century, Army Capt. Meriwether Lewis and 2nd Lt. William Clark named hundreds of rivers, mountains, bays and islands.

Perhaps nowhere is their impact on our nation’s toponymy more obvious than the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. Straddling the border of Idaho and Washington state, this metropolitan statistical area was considered the fourth smallest in the country as of the 2010 census.

In the one-acts “Lewiston” and “Clarkston,” playwright Samuel D. Hunter uses these two locales along the Snake River to depict America at a crossroads. Local HatTheatre’s production of the former opens this weekend.

“Lewiston” concerns Marnie, a 24-year-old returning home from Seattle to homestead the land that has been in her family for generations, and where she lived as a youngster. Upon returning, Marnie, who claims Lewis as an ancestor, is horrified to learn that much of the land has been sold to a developer to create a condo subdivision named Meriwether Terrace.

“’Lewiston’ is about the stories we tell and the choices we make,” says director Julie Fulcher-Davis. “It touches upon themes like family, legacy, secrecy and the universal longing for freedom.”

Currently residing on a sliver of remaining land are Alice, a woman in her 70s who sells fireworks from a roadside stand, and Connor, a middle-aged gay man who works at a Walgreens.

“When Marnie shows up, all hell breaks loose. It explodes like a firecracker,” says Boomie Pedersen, who plays Alice in the show. “It is an intimate, relationship-driven exploration of the reality of the modern American state.”

Paul James, who plays Connor, says the show is a character study of two people who have been roommates for the past nine years. He says Connor is an “everyday guy” who previously worked as a butcher but was laid off.

“They’re just trying to get through, day by day, paycheck by paycheck,” says James of Connor and Alice. “It’s a very simple one-act. It’s a family drama, but at the same time, it’s got this really biting humor to it.”

James lauds his colleagues in pulling “Lewiston” together.

“It’s been one of the most creative shows I’ve ever worked on,” he says. “Julie Fulcher-Davis has been one of the most nurturing, kind directors I’ve ever worked with.”

Hat’s production of “Lewiston” comes as the controversial film adaptation of Hunter’s play “The Whale” is up for three Academy Awards, including a best actor nomination for star Brendan Fraser. Both the film and the play concern a 600-pound man who has resolved to eat himself to death.

Asked how “Lewiston” compares to “The Whale,” Fulcher-Davis says “all of Samuel Hunter’s work brings about this great sense of connection and empathy in the human experience. He always writes these really complex characters that are very real, and we can look at them and see ourselves.”

Pederson says the stage version of “The Whale” is similar in its exploration of “the complicated psyches and make-up of all of us, and how quickly we make assumptions and how quickly we disregard or reject people that don’t seem at first glance like people we want to be with. There’s a lot of that in this play too, and about not communicating adequately, about hiding the truth.”

Asked why audiences should see “Lewiston,” Pederson answers the question with a question: “When else are you going to get to see what happens at a fireworks stand in the middle of Lewiston, Idaho?”

“Lewiston” runs March 3-12 at HatTheatre, 1124 Westbriar Dr., 23238. For more information, visit hattheatre.org or call (804) 343-6364.