Authenticity Theater: SUPERIOR DONUTS

Authenticity Theater opens its new season with Superior Donuts, running from October 22 through October 31 at 7 Stages Backstage Theatre in Little Five Points. It's a ten-day run with eight performances total: October 22, 23, and 24 at 8 PM; October 25 at 2 PM; and October 28, 29, 30, and 31 at 8 PM.

Superior Donuts is a comedy-drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts, set in a struggling donut shop in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. The story centers on an unlikely friendship between two men: a weary former activist whose once-vibrant ideals have faded, and a bright, ambitious young Black writer who walks in looking for work. That relationship is the heart of the play, and through it, Letts works through some heavy ground—race, economic inequality, gentrification, immigration, violence, and the widening gap between generations. It's written as a comedy, so it keeps its sense of humor even when it's leaning into those bigger social questions.

This production is directed by Robby Myles and features a large cast: Chuck Morris, Kristian Martinez, Robert Gunton, Franz Lynch, Michelle Neil, Joshua Lamboy, Betty Mitchell, Mikey Fuller, and James Gaythwaite. With nine actors on stage, there's plenty of room for the neighborhood characters that populate a play like this to fill out the world around the two leads.

If you're planning to go, keep in mind that the run is split across two weekends. The first three shows are Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM, followed by a 2 PM matinee on Sunday, October 25. Then there's a break before it picks back up with four more 8 PM performances from Wednesday, October 28, through Saturday, October 31. The theater is at 1105 Euclid Ave NE in Little Five Points, and since this is the season opener for Authenticity Theater, it's a good place to catch them right as they're getting started.