''Killer Joe'' is a play written by

Tracy Letts Tracy S. Letts (born July 4, 1965) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for '' August: Osage County'' (2007), for which he received ...

in 1993. Letts adapted the

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

into the movie ''Killer Joe'' in 2011.

Productions

The play was produced then premiered in 1993 at the Next Theatre Lab, in Evanston, Illinois, directed by

Wilson Milam Wilson Milam is an American theatre director from Bellevue, Washington who works in the United States, UK and Ireland. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Director of a Play for Martin McDonagh's ''The Lieutenant of Inishmore'' as well as ...

. After a successful run, ''Killer Joe'' was transferred to the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary p ...

at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play gained positive reviews, and received the Fringe First award, given to new productions at the festival. The play then made its New York premiere

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...

by 29th Street Repertory in 1994. ''Killer Joe'' transferred to London on 16 January 1995 at the Bush Theatre. The limited run at the Bush Theatre was a sell out, and once again received rave reviews. After closing at the Bush Theatre, ''Killer Joe'' opened at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

, London, for one year. ''Killer Joe'' was revived Off-Broadway at the

Soho Playhouse The SoHo Playhouse is an Off-Broadway theatre at 15 Vandam Street in the Hudson Square area of Manhattan. The theatre opened in 1962 as the Village South Theatre with the original production of Jean Erdman's musical play ''The Coach with the Six ...

in October 1998 until 13 June 1999, starring Scott Glenn,

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her roles in such films as ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), '' The Fisher King'' (1991), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hunge ...

and

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

. In 2018, ''Killer Joe'' opened at the Trafalgar Studio, London, starring Orlando Bloom,

Sophie Cookson Sophie Cookson (born 1989 or 1990) is an English actress best known for portraying secret agent Roxanne "Roxy" Morton / Lancelot in the 2014 spy film '' Kingsman: The Secret Service'' and its 2017 sequel '' The Golden Circle'', and for playing ...

Adam Gillen Adam Gillen (born 11 September 1985, Manchester) is a British actor, best known for his role as Liam Conroy in the ITV hit series ''Benidorm'', Brian in the Channel 4 comedy '' Fresh Meat'' and Gavin in BBC's '' Prisoners’ Wives''. In 2019 ...

, Steffan Rhodri and Neve McIntosh. This production was directed by Simon Evans. Previews began on May 18, with the official opening on June 4. The production closed on August 18th 2018.

was nominated for a 2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor In a Supporting Role for his role in the production.

Synopsis

''Killer Joe'' is set in a trailer park in

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

, Texas, in present day. It follows the story of police detective and hit-man Joe Cooper. Joe is hired to kill the mother of a young drug dealer, Chris, with Chris's father Ansel as an accomplice. However, Chris and Ansel cannot afford to pay Joe, so Joe accepts Chris' innocent sister Dottie as a form of payment until the debts can be paid.

Adaptation

Letts adapted the

into the movie ''Killer Joe'' in 2011.

References

{{reflist 1993 plays American plays adapted into films Comedy plays Plays by Tracy Letts