The Wingfield Cycle is a Canadian series of seven one-man plays - Letter from Wingfield Farm, Wingfield's Progress, Wingfield's Folly, Wingfield Unbound, Wingfield on Ice, Wingfield's Inferno and Wingfield Lost and Found - written by Dan Needles, directed by Douglas Beattie and performed by Rod Beattie. They tell the story of Walt Wingfield, a -turned-farmer living near the fictional small town Larkspur, Ontario in Persephone Township and his various misadventures while trying to make a living in the agriculture business. The plays progress as a series of letters written by Walt to his friend, the editor of the Larkspur newspaper. The plays were later collected and edited into a series of half-hour television shows, which were essentially video recordings of the plays.
Walt Wingfield, a Toronto stockbroker, decides to take up farming, and buys the old Fisher place in Persephone Township. He meets his new neighbours, including Freddie, his nephews Willie and Dave, Don, the elderly Squire, and Jimmy.
Episode 1 Following in the footsteps of Thoreau, stockbroker Walt Wingfield acquires 200 acres (0.81 km2) north of Toronto and sets out to farm “using some of the old ways.” A broken-down racehorse and a sick duck form the basis for his first misadventures.
Episode 2 Stockbroker-turned-farmer Walt Wingfield gets introduced to doing business Persephone-style when he sets out to buy a cord of firewood. Then neighbour Freddy and his nephews show up at Walt’s place for a surprise, late-night visit.
Episode 3 An early morning fire alarm at Freddy’s turns into a public embarrassment for Walt. Then the neighbours decide Walt and his horses are working too slowly to get a crop and plant his fields for him—armed with the latest technology.
Episode 4 Fed up with his horses, Mortgage and Feedbin, Walt goes in search of an older, wiser animal at Freddy’s. When he meets an ancient draft horse named King, it’s love at first sight. And borrowing a manure spreader from next door turns into an all-day excursion.
Episode 5 Walt faces the prospect of sending his pigs to the slaughter-house, Walt and Jimmy almost come to grief trying to break in Walt’s team of horses, and, as the February snow flies and the bills mount, Walt contemplates returning to work part-time at the brokerage firm.