Joe Locke Lines Up First West End Lead in Samuel D. Hunter’s Clarkston

Rising screen and stage star Joe Locke will headline the U.K. premiere of Clarkston in London this autumn, marking his official West End debut. The intimate three-hander by Pulitzer-winning American playwright Samuel D. Hunter, best known for The Whale, is being produced by Tony winner Oliver Roth in association with LD Entertainment for a strictly limited run.

Locke appears alongside BIFA-nominated actor Ruaridh Mollica and Welsh award-winner Sophie Melville. Drama Desk and Obie recipient Jack Serio, celebrated for his site-specific staging of Uncle Vanya, directs the production, bringing Broadway, indie-film and Royal Court pedigree to the creative team.

Clarkston centers on Jake, a restless traveler who crosses paths with retail night-shift worker Chris in a small Washington State town. Their unexpected friendship, sparked amid the fluorescent aisles of Costco, becomes a modern-day echo of the Lewis and Clark expedition as they search for meaning, identity and connection across America’s vast interior.

The play extends Hunter’s fascination with contemporary life on the U.S. frontier, following works such as A Bright New Boise, Greater Clements and the Oscar-winning screen adaptation of The Whale.

For Locke, the engagement caps a rapid theater trajectory: the 22-year-old won WhatsOnStage’s Best Professional Debut for The Trials at the Donmar Warehouse in 2023 before moving to Broadway for the Tony-nominated revival of Sweeney Todd. On screen he broke out globally in Netflix’s Heartstopper, now headed for a feature-film finale, and recently joined the Marvel universe in Agatha All Along.

Mollica arrives fresh from Sundance favorite Sebastian and HBO’s comedy series The Franchise, while Melville’s résumé spans James Graham’s BBC drama The Way and the recent RSC and Royal Court co-production Cowbois.

Performance dates, venue details and on-sale information will be announced in the coming weeks, and theatergoers can register for updates at ClarkstonPlay.co.uk.

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com