Tracy Letts’ darkly comic and provocative drama Superior Donuts will receive its UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse next year.
Brought to the stage by The Trick, the company formerly known as Greenhouse Theatre Company that previously staged Philip Ridley’s testing drama Mercury Fur in London, Superior Donuts will play at the south London venue from 11 February (press night 14 February) to 8 March.
Exploring the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship, the play gets its appealing sugar-coated title from the profession of its protagonist Arthur Przybyszewski, who runs a small rundown family business selling the jam-filled treats in Uptown Chicago. Suffering from the neglect of its owner as well as at the hands of vandals, Superior Donuts only survives thanks to a diverse community of customers, but when Arthur hires someone who wants to change the shop for the better, he is forced to confront the modern reality of the American Dream.
Written by the Tony Award-winning writer behind hit comedy August: Osage County, which won one of Broadway’s prestigious awards in 2008 and will soon be seen on big screens in a film adaptation starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, Superior Donuts premiered during the same year at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theatre, where Letts has been a member of the ensemble for more than a decade.
Described by the Chicago Tribune as “A witty, seductive, live-wire and greatly entertaining dark comedy” when it opened in the States, the show is directed in London by co-Artistic Director of The Trick Ned Bennett, who also directed the 2012 production of Mercury Fur at the Trafalgar Studio.