Superior Donuts opens at Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf Theatre Company concludes its 32nd season with the world premiere of Superior Donuts by ensemble member Tracy Letts and directed by ensemble member Tina Landau. The show is currently in previews and opens this weekend at the Steppenwolf Theatre.
Tracy Letts of course is coming off quite a year in which his previous play, August: Osage County, received critical acclaim as well as winning a number of awards including five Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, and six Joseph Jefferson Awards. Letts also received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play which is currently playing on Broadway following the soldout run at Steppenwolf in 2007.
Letts didnt rest during the successful run of August however. He began writing Superior Donuts at about the same time that August: Osage County began the run at Steppenwolf; he was doing some rewrites the day he won the Pulitzer; and the rehearsals were in progress at the time of the Tony Awards.
Superior Donuts is about Arthur Przybyszewski Michael McKean who owns a decrepit donut shop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Franco Wicks Jon Michael Hill, a black teenager who is his only employee, wants to change the shop for the better. This provocative world premiere comedy, set in the heart of one of Chicagos most diverse communities, explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship. All future works will undoubtedly though be compared to August: Osage County. Comparing Superior Donuts to August though may be a little difficult primarily because August was a drama and Superior Donuts is a comedy. Regardless, Tracy Letts will be known as the playwright of August: Osage County and all future works will be compared that is just one price of success.
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