Enjoy the “Whole” ThingLyric Stage brings “Superior Donuts” to Boston January 6
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- Published on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 15:17
- Written by Matt Robinson
Lyric Stage brings “Superior Donuts” to Boston January 6
Fortunately, there is now a way to get the flavor of this decadent treat without the guilt and, in fact, with some benefit.
On January 6, 2012, the Lyric Stage Company (www.lyricstage. com) will bring Pulitzer Prize winner Tracey Letts’ acclaimed “Superior Donuts” to Boston, a town that is already well known for its Donuts (with a capital “D”- In fact, TWO of them!). Starring such well-rounded actors as Steven Barkheimer, Will LeBow, Karen MacDonald, Omar Robinson, and Christopher James Webb, this Chicago-set story of a donut store owner and his aspiring assistant comments on the powers of the past and of friendship in a compelling and ultimately redemptive way.
When asked why he chose this play, Director Spiro Veloudos explained that he is a big fan of writer Tracey Letts (who also scripted the award-winning “August: Osage County”). “His facility with language is really interesting to me,” Veloudos says. “He is an actor and therefore understands how an actor works, thinks and ultimately speaks.”
Once the play was picked, Veloudos set about to assemble the best actors he could for the project. He ended up with such regulars as Barkheimer and LeBow (with whom Veloudos worked 35 years ago in a Boston Shakespeare Company production), but also with some Lyric newbies such as Robinson and MacDonald. “The best thing about working with actors of this caliber and experience,”
Veloudos says, being sure to include the entire company in this comment, “is that there isn’t a lot of acting coaching needed. This allows me to work on the story of the play and get the most out of the play and the actors in it.”
While many have analyzed the story to a fare-the-well, Veloudos opts to focus on what he sees as the central message of the play. “I think what the play tries to convey,” he suggests, “is how we react to change. Whether that change is in a neighborhood, a family, a people or in the American Dream.
Everyone in this play is, in some way affected by change. Part of that acceptance of change is accepting the demons in your life and transcending them.” As for how the Windy Citybased story will “play” in Boston (which is actually windier, meteorologically speaking), Veloudos suggests that the main reason Letts set it in Chicago is that was where he was at the time. “I feel that this story could be told about Boston or any major city,” he says. “You need only look at what happened to Boston’s West End to realize that this story could happen here.”
Though titular, the donuts of “Superior Donuts” may also not be the main point. Even so, Veloudos cordially offers his take on where the most superior donuts in the Boston area come from.
“Mikes Donuts in Jamaica Plain,” he smiles. “I really like their honey dipped glazed!”
