Joe Locke To Make His West End Debut in CLARKSON by Samuel D. Hunter
He’s a showstopper! Joe Locke will make his West End debut in the UK premier of Clarkson by Samuel D. Hunter. The play will be directed by Jack Serio, and have a strictly limited run in the West End this autumn. Locke will share the stage with Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville.
Locke rose to fame for his role in Heartstopper, where he stars as one of the two main leads, Charlie, along with Marvel’s Agatha All Along. He made his Broadway debut as Tobias in Sweeney Todd alongside Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford — and later, Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster — last season.
“Samuel D. Hunter’s writing is so deeply human and honest that I immediately connected with the play when I read it,” Locke said in a statement. “I can’t wait to bring this beautiful story to life and share it with audiences in London.”
Clarkson is a modern frontier story that blazes a trail through friendship, acceptance, love and the hope of new discoveries. It tells the story of Jake, who goes on a journey to rediscover himself. Along the way, he meets Chris, who is hiding in a night shift at a Costco in rural America. Together, they try to find a way to give life new meaning.
“This play draws from themes of the vast and isolated American West and the colonial past of the United States, but it's fundamentally a story about love and friendship in the midst of an unknown future, which is a pretty universal story these days,” playwright Hunter said in a statement.
Hunter will also be making his Broadway debut this fall with Little Bear Ridge Road opening at the Booth Theatre under director Joe Mantello. Hunter received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2014, and has been harked as one of the nation’s strongest playwrights. He has written plays including The Whale, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, A Bright New Boise, Greater Clements, and A Case for the Existence of God, among others. He is a native of Idaho.
Clarkson will open in the West End this fall. Tickets and more information will be released soon. For updates, visit here.
