Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson is reprising his stage role as Truman Capote in a London run of Jay Presson Allen’s Tru.
The U.S. star will perform at the city’s Menier Chocolate Factory from Sept. 27 to Nov. 14 following the show’s acclaimed New York stint earlier this year. Rob Ashford is set to direct.
Drawn entirely from Capote’s own words, Tru was originally staged in 1989. It is set in the writer’s New York City apartment the week before Christmas 1975, after an excerpt from Capote’s infamous unfinished roman à clef, Answered Prayers, has been published in Esquire. Essentially a two-act monodrama, Capote self-soothes with pills, vodka, cocaine and chocolate truffles as he muses over his life and career.
Ashford and Ferguson collaborated on the project in March at House of the Redeemer’s Library.
“I’m thrilled to bring this intimate production of Tru to the Menier following its successful New York run,” said Ferguson, who won a Tony for his role in the Broadway revival of Take Me Out. “The audience response to this unique theatrical experience, and the chance to encounter Truman Capote up close, was incredibly rewarding. I’m delighted that Rob Ashford and I now have the opportunity to share what we’ve created with London audiences.”
Ashford added: “I had the great pleasure of directing Jesse in a staged reading of Tru as a one-night-only charity benefit in Tangier, Morocco, in the summer of 2024. He was mesmerizing… He captured the truth of the man, his humour and heartbreak. I’m thrilled that we get the opportunity to further explore this great pairing of actor and character in London.”
Ferguson is no stranger to London theater — he is currently guest starring as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palladium, and has previously appeared in Stephen Sondheim’s Here We Are at the National Theatre.
Ashford’s London theater credits include The Entertainer, Macbeth, Anna Christie and A Streetcar Named Desire.
