After making his Broadway debut last year, Joe Locke is taking his performing prowess to London’s West End, where he will star in Clarkston, Samuel D. Hunter’s play about two 20-something men from opposite ends of the U.S. who meet while working at a Costco in small-town Washington.
“I’m thrilled to be making my West End debut in Clarkston,” the actor said in a statement, per Playbill. “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.”
The play, which has been previously staged stateside beginning in Dallas in 2015, will mark its inaugural U.K. showing later this fall, after Locke has wrapped filming on Netflix‘s Heartstopper film, which serves as a closer to the popular LGBTQ+ rom-dramedy YA series.
Locke, who is also known for his turn in Disney+’s Agatha All Along, told BBC News he was “so excited” for the opportunity, saying the role reflects his desire to depict “flawed characters … who have a bit of bite.”
Appearing opposite Joe Locke are Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville. Dates and a venue are yet to be announced, and Jack Serio will serve as director.
A playwright with his star on the rise, Hunter is best known for his 2012 play The Whale, which was adapted to the silver screen by Darren Aronofsky in 2022. The film, starring Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau and Sadie Sink, won two Oscars, including Fraser’s Best Actor win.
“I couldn’t be more excited to bring Clarkston to London audiences, especially with this phenomenal cast and creative team,” Hunter added in a statement. “I’ve always adored the U.K.’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.”
Clarkston opens with the addition of a new hire Jake (Locke), a young gay man originally from Connecticut, who moves west after a diagnosis of degenerative neurological condition Huntington’s disease. Meanwhile, Chris (Mollica) has a strained relationship with his drug addict mother (Melville), and the play unfolds as the two men develop a deep connection to each other.
“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,” Locke shared with BBC.
In early 2024, Locke joined the cast of the Tony-nominated revival of the hit Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on Broadway, taking over the role of Tobias Ragg from Gaten Matarazzo.
“I’m from the Isle of Man,” Locke explained to BBC, “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.”
Speaking to the Heartstopper movie, currently in production, Locke said “it’s going great, we’re almost two thirds of the way through shooting now, and everything, touch wood, is going well. We’re having a great time doing it, it’s a really nice closing chapter of the story.”
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