'You have this idea in your head of the person you could be.'

On a journey West to rediscover himself, Jake unexpectedly meets Chris - a kindred soul working the same night shift at a Costco in a rural American town.

As their bond deepens, so does their sense of adventure. Maybe they could finally give life new meaning by chasing something more - like the intrepid American explorers who came before them. Together, they grapple with questions about sexuality, family and life's dead ends.

Samuel D. Hunter's emotionally intimate play Clarkston is a modern frontier story that blazes a trail through friendship, acceptance, love and the hope of new discoveries.

It was first performed at Dallas Theater Center, Texas, in 2015, and won a New Play Award from the Edgerton Foundation. It received its British premiere at Trafalgar Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Jack Serio and starring Joe Locke, Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville.

About the Author

Samuel D. Hunter is an American writer whose plays include A Bright New Boise and The Whale, which won the Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Play, and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film with Brendan Fraser.

Reviews

'Absorbing and ultimately uplifting'

* Los Angeles Time *

'Chamber theatre of the most deeply moving kind. By the evening's end, you'll have a palpable sense of having shared something special'

* Hollywood Reporter *

'Samuel D Hunter gives his characters engagingly chewy dialogue and complex origins... gorgeous writing... Clarkston is lovely'

* The Times *

'Tender and brimming with heart... The writing is subtle but blistering... unerringly truthful'

* WhatsOnStage *

'A quietly devastating work of rare emotional depth... the kind of play that changes the way you view the world... a triumph'

* Theatre Weekly *

'A moving story of doing male vulnerability right... we sure need plays like this on London stages right now'

* Liam O'Dell *

'Tender and sensitive... Hunter's writing is exquisite... a thought-provoking and powerful piece'

* All That Dazzles *


Awards
Winner of Edgerton Foundation New Play Award 2015.



Book Information
ISBN 9781839045134
Author Samuel D. Hunter
Format Paperback
Page Count 88
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books
Weight(grams) 104g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 6mm