'You have this idea in your head of the person you could be.'

On a journey West to rediscover himself, Jake unexpectedly meets Chris – a kindred soul working the same night shift at a Costco in a rural American town.

As their bond deepens, so does their sense of adventure. Maybe they could finally give life new meaning by chasing something more – like the intrepid American explorers who came before them. Together, they grapple with questions about sexuality, family and life's dead ends.

Samuel D. Hunter's emotionally intimate play Clarkston is a modern frontier story that blazes a trail through friendship, acceptance, love and the hope of new discoveries.

It was first performed at Dallas Theater Center, Texas, in 2015, and won a New Play Award from the Edgerton Foundation. It received its British premiere at Trafalgar Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Jack Serio and starring Joe Locke, Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville.