TCG Books Publishes Tracy Letts' KILLER JOE

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the publication of Killer Joe by Tracy Letts. Letts, who earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, among other honors, for August: Osage County, launched his playwriting career with this shocking and unforgettable work. Originally staged in 1993 at Next Theatre in Evanston, Illinois, Killer Joe quickly became a must-see and ran for eight months before later runs in Edinburgh, New York and London, including four months on the West End."

The Smith family hatches a plan to murder their estranged matriarch for her insurance money. They hire Killer Joe Cooper, a police detective and part-time contract killer, to do the job. Once he enters their trailer, their simple plan spirals out of control. Letts's first play, "an immensely entertaining pop artifact... written with neon-lit flamboyance" (New York Times), has been performed in fifteen countries in twelve languages and is now slated for Broadway in spring 2015. It was recently released as an acclaimed motion picture directed by William Friedkin and starring Matthew McConaughey.

Tracy Letts is a playwright, actor and ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He is the author of Killer Joe, Bug, Man from Nebraska, August: Osage County, Superior Donuts and a new version of Chekhov's Three Sisters. He is the only person to win both a Tony Award for acting and a Pulitzer Prize.

For over 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is North America's largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 13 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH?, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org