Profiles Theatre continues its 2009-2010 Season with Killer Joe by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder. The production runs January 8- February 28, 2010, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway.
Killer Joe focuses on the Smith family, a greedy, vindictive clan of Texans who hatch a plan to murder their estranged matriarch to cash in on her insurance policy. Unable to bring themselves to do the deed, they hire Killer Joe Cooper, a full-time cop and part-time contract killer. Once he steps into their trailer, their simple plan quickly spirals out of control.
Written in 1991, the play premiered at the Next Lab Theater in Chicago two years later and was then presented at the 29th Street Rep in NYC. Since then, Killer Joe has been performed in at least 15 countries in 12 different languages. It won top honors at the Edinburgh, Scotland, Fringe Theater Festival in 1994, then played to sellout audiences at London's The Buck and West Theater during a four-month run in which it won the Time Out Award as the Best Play of 1995. Tracy Letts was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play for August: Osage County.
The cast of Killer Joefeatures Profiles' ensemble members Darrell W. Cox (The Mercy Seat, Graceland, Great Falls) as Killer Joe Cooperand Somer Benson (Graceland, The Wonderful World of Dissocia, The Thugs) as Sharla. The cast also includes Kevin Bigley as Chris, Howie Johnson as Ansel and Claire Wellin as Dottie, all making their Profiles debut.
"Following Tracy's recent Broadway success and the Pulitzer, now is the perfect time to take audiences back to the savagely funny and often startling world of his first play," says Profiles' Artistic Director Joe Jahraus. "It's a perfect match for us as Killer Joe captures the type of tough, uncompromising and provocative theatre that put Profiles on the map."
The designers are Sotirios Livaditis (set), Jessica Harpenau (lights), Darcy McGill (costumes), and Kevin O'Donnell (sound and original music). The assistant director is Jeremy Lee Cudd and the stage manager is Mary Ellen Rieck.
Killer Joe is the next production of Profiles Theatre's 21st season, following the Midwest premiereof The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute and the extended run of Ellen Fairey's Graceland,which concluded its world premiere at Profiles in December. The season will conclude with the Midwest premiere of Body Awareness by Annie Baker, opening in April 2010.