The Menier Chocolate Factory has announced that multi-award-winning actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson will star as Truman Capote in Jay Presson Allen’s Tru, opening this autumn following a critically acclaimed New York run earlier this year.
Directed by award-winning director and choreographer Rob Ashford, Tru begins previews on 19 September 2026, ahead of its official opening night on 27 September, and runs until 14 November at the Southwark venue.
Drawn entirely from the words of Truman Capote himself, Tru takes audiences inside the celebrated writer’s New York apartment in December 1975, as he grapples with the fallout from a personal and professional crisis that shattered his place within the elite social circles he once treasured.
The production reunites Ferguson and Ashford, who first collaborated on a staged reading of the play in Morocco in 2024 before developing the full production, which premiered in New York earlier this year.
Ferguson said: “I’m thrilled to bring this intimate production of Tru to the Menier following its successful New York run. 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 best known to television audiences for his Emmy-nominated role as Mitchell Pritchett in Modern Family. His stage credits include Take Me Out, for which he won a Tony Award, while UK audiences have recently seen him in Here We Are at the National Theatre and Jesus Christ Superstar at The London Palladium.
The production is designed by Paul Farnsworth, with Ferguson as the sole cast member portraying the celebrated author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood in a funny and heartbreaking portrait of an artist confronting the consequences of his most scandalous work.
Priority booking for supporters of the Menier Chocolate Factory opens on 13 July, with public booking opening on 20 July.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
