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A comedy about real people
"Superior Donuts' on Broadway
Steve Cohen
Time is running short for you to see an outstanding play by Tracy Letts, quite possibly today's best American playwright. Superior Donuts received critical raves but it will close January 3. Its departure was hastened by the fact that it's a non-musical play in a weak economy.
The play's ticket sales weren't helped by the New York reviews that described Superior Donuts as a play about a clash between an older, white storeowner and his young black employee. The Superior Donuts website didn't help much either: It says the play concerns "the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship."
That's only part of the story. The play's real appeal lies in its warm comic interplay among all the characters. The language is realistic and the characters are recognizable.
The doughnut shop of the title is a dilapidated storefront in a rundown neighborhood, operated by a middle-aged former hippie named Arthur Przybyszewski, played by Michael McKean. The video rental place next door is owned by a Russian immigrant, colorfully portrayed by Yasen Peyankov. Into the eatery comes Franco (Jon Michael Hill), a young black man who wants a job and is more industrious and ambitious than Arthur. Franco isn't quite what he appears to be, and I won't say more lest I spoil your surprise.
Michael McKean at age 62 is doing the most impressive work of his fine career in TV, movies and music, and Hill does a stunning job as the youth. Jane Alderman is an odd but endearing bag lady who hangs out at the doughnut shop, and Kate Buddeke and James Vincent Meredith are the down-to-earth police partners who come to investigate a break-in.
Letts is the Chicago-based actor and playwright whose Killer Joe was received approvingly in the 1990s in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere. Then his play, Bug, attracted more fans and was made into a movie. In 2008 his August, Osage County won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
His range is impressive. Killer Joe and Bug involve unsophisticated common people, and both plays are built around shock effects and the threat of violence; August, Osage County, on the other hand, is about an educated family in Oklahoma, where Letts grew up, the son of an actor/professor and a writer. The first two plays are claustrophobic with small casts, while August encompasses a broad scope and an unusually large ensemble.
Now, in Superior Donuts, Letts captures the essence of neighborhood life in Chicago, where he has lived and worked for the last 24 years. My wife grew up in Chicago and we visited friends there as recently as this year, and I'm impressed with the specificity of Letts's characters and the locale.
Incidentally, the one Letts play I missed— Man From Nebraska— was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2004. For my sake, at least, I hope some nearby regional theater will revive it.♦
To read a response, click here.
The play's ticket sales weren't helped by the New York reviews that described Superior Donuts as a play about a clash between an older, white storeowner and his young black employee. The Superior Donuts website didn't help much either: It says the play concerns "the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship."
That's only part of the story. The play's real appeal lies in its warm comic interplay among all the characters. The language is realistic and the characters are recognizable.
The doughnut shop of the title is a dilapidated storefront in a rundown neighborhood, operated by a middle-aged former hippie named Arthur Przybyszewski, played by Michael McKean. The video rental place next door is owned by a Russian immigrant, colorfully portrayed by Yasen Peyankov. Into the eatery comes Franco (Jon Michael Hill), a young black man who wants a job and is more industrious and ambitious than Arthur. Franco isn't quite what he appears to be, and I won't say more lest I spoil your surprise.
Michael McKean at age 62 is doing the most impressive work of his fine career in TV, movies and music, and Hill does a stunning job as the youth. Jane Alderman is an odd but endearing bag lady who hangs out at the doughnut shop, and Kate Buddeke and James Vincent Meredith are the down-to-earth police partners who come to investigate a break-in.
Letts is the Chicago-based actor and playwright whose Killer Joe was received approvingly in the 1990s in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere. Then his play, Bug, attracted more fans and was made into a movie. In 2008 his August, Osage County won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
His range is impressive. Killer Joe and Bug involve unsophisticated common people, and both plays are built around shock effects and the threat of violence; August, Osage County, on the other hand, is about an educated family in Oklahoma, where Letts grew up, the son of an actor/professor and a writer. The first two plays are claustrophobic with small casts, while August encompasses a broad scope and an unusually large ensemble.
Now, in Superior Donuts, Letts captures the essence of neighborhood life in Chicago, where he has lived and worked for the last 24 years. My wife grew up in Chicago and we visited friends there as recently as this year, and I'm impressed with the specificity of Letts's characters and the locale.
Incidentally, the one Letts play I missed— Man From Nebraska— was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2004. For my sake, at least, I hope some nearby regional theater will revive it.♦
To read a response, click here.
What, When, Where
Superior Donuts. By Tracy Letts; directed by Tina Landau. Through January 3, 2009 at the Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St. (between Broadway and Eighth Ave.), New York. (212) 239-6200 or www.donutsonbroadway.com.
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