Latest news with #SamuelDHunter
South Wales Guardian
20 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Heartstopper's Joe Locke ‘thrilled' to make West End debut in Clarkston
The 21-year-old will appear in the play, written by Samuel D Hunter, alongside The Franchise actor Ruaridh Mollica and Welsh actress Sophie Melville when it launches this Autumn. Locke said: 'I'm thrilled to be making my West End debut in Clarkston. Samuel D Hunter's writing is so deeply human and honest that I immediately connected with the play when I read it.' A post shared by Clarkston (@clarkstonplay) Clarkston, directed by Jack Serio, tells the story of Jake, who is on a journey to discover himself when he unexpectedly meets Chris, a kindred soul working a night shift at a Costco in a rural American town. As the pair's bond deepens, so does their sense of adventure. Writer Hunter said of the play: 'I couldn't be more excited to bring Clarkston to London audiences, especially with this phenomenal cast and creative team. 'I've always adored the UK's theatre scene, so being able to share this play with audiences in the West End is truly a dream come true. '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 prettyuniversal story these days.' Locke starred in all three seasons of Netflix's teen drama Heartstopper as Charlie Spring, a gay teen boy who falls in love with his classmate Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The Manx star was nominated for outstanding lead performance at the Children's And Family Emmy Awards in 2022 for his role in the show. The actor has also appeared in Marvel's Agatha All Along miniseries and made his Broadway debut last year in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Further details, including ticket sale dates, are yet to be announced.
Rhyl Journal
39 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Heartstopper's Joe Locke ‘thrilled' to make West End debut in Clarkston
The 21-year-old will appear in the play, written by Samuel D Hunter, alongside The Franchise actor Ruaridh Mollica and Welsh actress Sophie Melville when it launches this Autumn. Locke said: 'I'm thrilled to be making my West End debut in Clarkston. Samuel D Hunter's writing is so deeply human and honest that I immediately connected with the play when I read it.' A post shared by Clarkston (@clarkstonplay) Clarkston, directed by Jack Serio, tells the story of Jake, who is on a journey to discover himself when he unexpectedly meets Chris, a kindred soul working a night shift at a Costco in a rural American town. As the pair's bond deepens, so does their sense of adventure. Writer Hunter said of the play: 'I couldn't be more excited to bring Clarkston to London audiences, especially with this phenomenal cast and creative team. 'I've always adored the UK's theatre scene, so being able to share this play with audiences in the West End is truly a dream come true. '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 prettyuniversal story these days.' Locke starred in all three seasons of Netflix's teen drama Heartstopper as Charlie Spring, a gay teen boy who falls in love with his classmate Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The Manx star was nominated for outstanding lead performance at the Children's And Family Emmy Awards in 2022 for his role in the show. The actor has also appeared in Marvel's Agatha All Along miniseries and made his Broadway debut last year in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Further details, including ticket sale dates, are yet to be announced.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Heartstopper's Joe Locke ‘thrilled' to make West End debut in Clarkston
Locke said: 'I'm thrilled to be making my West End debut in Clarkston. Samuel D Hunter's writing is so deeply human and honest that I immediately connected with the play when I read it.' 'I can't wait to bring this beautiful story to life and share it with audiences in London.' Clarkston, directed by Jack Serio, tells the story of Jake, who is on a journey to discover himself when he unexpectedly meets Chris, a kindred soul working a night shift at a Costco in a rural American town. As the pair's bond deepens, so does their sense of adventure. Writer Hunter said of the play: 'I couldn't be more excited to bring Clarkston to London audiences, especially with this phenomenal cast and creative team. 'I've always adored the UK's theatre scene, so being able to share this play with audiences in the West End is truly a dream come true. '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.' Locke starred in all three seasons of Netflix's teen drama Heartstopper as Charlie Spring, a gay teen boy who falls in love with his classmate Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The Manx star was nominated for outstanding lead performance at the Children's And Family Emmy Awards in 2022 for his role in the show. The actor has also appeared in Marvel's Agatha All Along miniseries and made his Broadway debut last year in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Further details, including ticket sale dates, are yet to be announced.
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Joe Locke: Heartstopper star to make West End debut in Clarkston
Heartstopper star Joe Locke is to make his West End debut this autumn, in a play about two young men who bond while working night shifts at a warehouse in a rural US is currently filming the forthcoming Heartstopper movie after appearing in three series of the hit Netflix show about two classmates who fall in love, but will take on his new stage role later this 21-year-old will star in Clarkston, which follows two men in their twenties from opposite ends of the US who meet while working at told BBC News he was "so excited" for his West End debut, adding that his new role matched his desire to play "flawed characters... who have a bit of bite". Clarkston is written by Samuel D Hunter, who is best known for his 2012 play The Whale, which later won Brendan Fraser an Oscar when made into a have not yet announced the venue or run dates for the British production, but told the BBC it would open in a West End theatre in the in Clarkston, Washington, the play opens with a Costco employee named Chris working night shifts when he meets new hire Jake, a young gay man originally from has Huntington's disease, a degenerative neurological condition that causes involuntary movements. He ended up in Clarkston by accident after finding himself no longer able to drive during a road trip west."He's this city boy in a small place," explained Locke. "Jake has got so many layers to him that really unravel in the play. A lot of the themes are to do with class and the different experiences of the characters."Chris, meanwhile, struggles with the strained relationship he has with his mother, who is a drug addict. Locke, who is used to portraying young men grappling with their identity, explained: "I really enjoy characters that have something to them, a bit of bite, a bit of a grey area. "Everyone is flawed in some ways. And I've been lucky enough in my career so far to play a few flawed characters, and Jake is no different to that. And that's the fun bit, the meaty bit, getting to know these characters - they're good and they're bad."Hunter noted the play "is fundamentally about friendship and platonic male love, which is something that I feel like we don't see a lot of on stage and screen".Locke agreed: "Yeah, one of my favourite things about this play is there's a scene where these characters almost build on their platonic relationship and get to a romantic level, and they realise that no, the platonic relationship is what's important, and I think that's really beautiful." Clarkston, which has previously been performed alongside another of Hunter's plays, Lewiston, received positive reviews from critics when it was staged in the US."You feel like you're eavesdropping on intensely private moments of people you don't always like but come to deeply understand," said The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck of a 2018 production."Toward the end, there's an encounter between Chris and his mother that is as shattering and gut-wrenching a scene as you'll ever see on stage. But the play ends on a sweet, hopeful note that sends you out of the theatre smiling."Writing about a different production in 2024, Charles McNulty of the LA Times said: "Clarkston hints that some of our most instructive relationships may be the most transitory. That's one of the beautiful discoveries in Hunter's small, absorbing and ultimately uplifting play." Anybody who has worked night shifts may relate to the idea that the early hours are a time when people often open up to each other and have have their deepest conversations. Hunter suggests such an atmosphere results in a "more delicate, more intimate" backdrop."I had an experience working in a Walmart when I was a teenager," he recalled, "and I found that places like the break room were so intimate and vulnerable, you're in this very sterilised space so I think the need for human connection is made all the greater." Hunter had the idea of writing the play when visiting his home town of Moscow Idaho, about 30 miles from Clarkson, and became interested in "the idea that the American West is still kind of young", following the Louisiana Purchase in the early 19th Century."The markers of that history are still there," noted Hunter, "but they are right next to things like Costcos and gas stations and mini-malls. "So it just got me interested in the experiment of the American West and the colonial past, and what that means in 2025."The new production will be directed by Jack Serio, who has previously directed another of Hunter's plays, Grangeville, with Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville cast in the other two lead roles as Chris and his mother. Locke has previously appeared on stage at London's Donmar Warehouse, and in a Broadway production of Sweeney actor said being a theatre actor "was the thing I wanted more than anything" when growing up. "I'm from the Isle of Man," he explained, "and my birthday present every year was a trip to London with my mum to watch a few shows, so it's very full circle to bring my mum to my press night to my West End debut, it's going to be very exciting."Locke has starred in three seasons of Neflix's Heartstopper since its launch in 2022. The show followed two teenage boys, Charlie and Nick, who fall for each other at secondary school, and their circle of friends. Locke spoke to BBC News while on set, shooting the film adaptation."It's going great, we're almost two thirds of the way through shooting now, and everything, touch wood, is going well," he said."We're having a great time doing it, it's a really nice closing chapter of the story."
New York Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Laurie Metcalf to Star in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road' on Broadway
'Little Bear Ridge Road,' Samuel D. Hunter's acclaimed small-cast play about loneliness, compassion and a search for connection between an aunt and her nephew in rural Idaho, will come to Broadway this fall in a production starring Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock. The production, directed by Joe Mantello ('Wicked'), will mark the return to Broadway of the producer Scott Rudin, who in 2021 paused his producing activities and resigned from the Broadway League amid reports of bullying behavior toward assistants and others. Rudin is producing the show with Barry Diller, the billionaire media mogul who has frequently backed his shows. The play is scheduled to begin previews Oct. 7 and to open Oct. 30 at the Booth Theater for an 18-week limited run. Hunter, the playwright, is best known for 'The Whale,' which was adapted into a 2022 film. He was raised in Idaho and many of his plays are set there and feature socially isolated working-class characters. This will be Hunter's first play staged on Broadway. 'My initial impulse for writing the play — which I told to Joe and Laurie, and I credit them that they still had faith in me after I said this — is that I wanted to write a play about people watching television,' Hunter said in a telephone interview. 'That was the platform for the play, but the play became this story of this aunt and this nephew who have almost no relationship, and a lot of painful history between them, hunkering down together during the pandemic, and both of them trying to figure out a path forward in a deeply complicated reality.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
