Killer Joe

"One of the best American plays of the past quarter century." - Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal

"An immensely entertaining pop artifact. Written with neon-lit flamboyance." - Vincent Canby, New York Times

"A brilliant play. A major theatrical event." - Michael Billington, Guardian

“A visceral theatre experience of the highest order. For those who like their theatre strong, not tepid, it's immensely gratifying.” –Backstage

The Smith family hatch a plan to murder their estranged matriarch for her insurance money and hire Killer Joe Cooper, a police detective and part-time contract killer, to do the job. Once he enters the trailer, their simple plan spirals out of control. Letts’s unforgettable first play is “a tense, gut-twisting thriller ride” and has been performed in fifteen countries in twelve languages ( Chicago Tribune ). The film adaptation, released in 2011 and starring Matthew McConaghey, is “written with merciless black humor…one hell of a movie” (Roger Ebert).

Tracy Letts was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play for Osage County , which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2007 before playing Broadway, London's National Theatre, and a forty-week US tour. Other plays include Pulitzer Prize finalist Man from Nebraska ; Killer Joe , which was adapted into a critically acclaimed film; and Bug , which has played in New York, Chicago, and London and was adapted into a film. Letts is an ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company and garnered a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?