Tracy Letts’ 2008 play Superior Donuts is a story about friendship between two unlikely souls—with a good dose of violence added. The story is set in an Uptown donut shop (the owner makes the donuts by hand; they’re not dunkin’ or krispy). The play, directed by John Mossman, is now being staged by the Artistic Home with excellent performances by the two leading characters.
The first evidence of violence appears when Arthur Przybyszewski (a classic Chicago name), opens the shop on a winter morning to find it vandalized and a huge “PUSSY” scrawled on the wall. Arthur, played by Scott Westerman, is just starting to clean up when a young man walks in to apply for a job. Arthur hires and befriends him. John N. Williams gives a sparkling performance as Franco Wicks, the employee and an ambitious writer. Arthur asks Franco if he can read his manuscript (handwritten in a bundle of notebooks). Arthur is impressed by the quality of the story and its characters and encourages Franco to get it fixed up (meaning typewritten) and says he’ll help him figure out how to get it published. The title of the book is “America Will Be.”
Superior Donuts is a warm-hearted story with a positive ending and a cast of neighborhood characters who stop in each day. But it has a bit of a sitcom feel; nearly two decades after its premiere, it feels like it needs an update. And that’s not something I would say about Letts’ wild and darkly comic works, such as Killer Joe and Bug.
Franco is not an innocent; he has a gambling problem and a big debt (also a cliché). His gangster creditors threaten and attack him. Arthur supports Franco and challenges the gangsters to fight. A very realistic fistfight ensues, carried out on the small stage a few feet from where I’m sitting. Yes, it felt very realistic. (Fight direction by David Blixt.)
The donut store has an old-time, tired neighborhood feel with yellow plastic chair covers and formica-covered tables. Set design by Kevin Hagan and lighting by Ellie Fey.. Petter Wahlback is sound designer. Costumes are by Rachel Lambert. Eve Pahoresky is stage manager.
Some of the neighborhood characters who inhabit the story are Reid Coker as Max Tarasov, who owns an adjacent video store, and two cops played by Kristin Collins and Kevin Aoussou. Barbara Roeder Harris plays Lady Boyle, an older woman dealing with an alcohol problem. Adam Schulmerich plays the gangster, Luther Flynn.
The play premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2008 and moved to Broadway in 2009, where it had a three-month run. Superior Donuts was later adapted for a TV series that ran for two seasons on CBS in 2017-18 and was canceled because of low ratings.
Tracy Letts is known for his plays Killer Joe, Bug, Man from Nebraska and the Pulitzer-Prize-winning August Osage County. He also is a well-regarded stage and film actor; he plays a leading role in the current Netflix film, House of Dynamite.
Superior Donuts by the Artistic Home continues at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., through December 6. Running time is two hours including one intermission. For tickets and more info, visit the website.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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