Heartstopper star Joe Locke is to make his West End debut this autumn, in a play about two young men who bond while working night shifts at a warehouse in a rural US town. Locke is currently filming the forthcoming Heartstopper movie after appearing in three series of the hit Netflix show about two classmates who fall in love, but will take on his new stage role later this year.
The 21-year-old will star in Clarkston, which follows two men in their twenties from opposite ends of the US who meet while working at Costco. Locke told BBC News he was “so excited” for his West End debut, adding that his new role matched his desire to play “flawed characters… who have a bit of bite”.
Clarkston is written by Samuel D Hunter, who is best known for his 2012 play The Whale, which later won Brendan Fraser an Oscar when made into a film. Producers have not yet announced the venue or run dates for the British production, but told the BBC it would open in a West End theatre in the autumn.
Set in Clarkston, Washington, the play opens with a Costco employee named Chris working night shifts when he meets new hire Jake, a young gay man originally from Connecticut. Jake has Huntington’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition that causes involuntary movements. He ended up in Clarkston by accident after finding himself no longer able to drive during a road trip west.
“He’s this city boy in a small place,” explained Locke. “Jake has got so many layers to him that really unravel in the play. A lot of the themes are to do with class and the different experiences of the characters.” Chris, meanwhile, struggles with the strained relationship he has with his mother, who is a drug addict.
Locke, who is used to portraying young men grappling with their identity, explained: “I really enjoy characters that have something to them, a bit of bite, a bit of a grey area. Everyone is flawed in some ways. And I’ve been lucky enough in my career so far to play a few flawed characters, and Jake is no different to that. And that’s the fun bit, the meaty bit, getting to know these characters – they’re good and they’re bad.”
Hunter noted the play “is fundamentally about friendship and platonic male love, which is something that I feel like we don’t see a lot of on stage and screen”. Locke agreed: “Yeah, one of my favourite things about this play is there’s a scene where these characters almost build on their platonic relationship and get to a romantic level, and they realise that no, the platonic relationship is what’s important, and I think that’s really beautiful.”
Clarkston, which has previously been performed alongside another of Hunter’s plays, Lewiston, received positive reviews from critics when it was staged in the US. “You feel like you’re eavesdropping on intensely private moments of people you don’t always like but come to deeply understand,” said The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck of a 2018 production.
Anybody who has worked night shifts may relate to the idea that the early hours are a time when people often open up to each other and have have their deepest conversations. Hunter suggests such an atmosphere results in a “more delicate, more intimate” backdrop.
Locke has previously appeared on stage at London’s Donmar Warehouse, and in a Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. The actor said being a theatre actor “was the thing I wanted more than anything” when growing up. Locke has starred in three seasons of Neflix’s Heartstopper since its launch in 2022. The show followed two teenage boys, Charlie and Nick, who fall for each other at secondary school, and their circle of friends.
Locke spoke to BBC News while on set, shooting the film adaptation. “It’s going great, we’re almost two thirds of the way through shooting now, and everything, touch wood, is going well,” he said. “We’re having a great time doing it, it’s a really nice closing chapter of the story.”
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