In the opening of the play “Superior Donuts,”a donut shop in uptown Chicago has just been vandalized and two police officers are already on the scene.Max, played by Donald Corren, is being questioned by the cops when Arthur, played by Anderson Matthews, walks through the “Superior Donut” shop door.Tables are knocked over, profanity is spray painted on the back wall and the suspect remains unknown.Max is Arthur’s friend and a regular customer who just happened to come in at the wrong time for coffee and donuts.”Superior Donuts” was written by Tracy Letts, a 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner for Best Play for the production “August: Osage County.”Ted Pappas the producing artistic director of the Pittsburgh Public Theater is directing the production.”Superior Donuts” takes place in a small-town donut shop owned and run by Arthur Przybyzewski, a cynical Polish man who has recently been divorced. Business is slow for Arthur, yet his daily customers, friends and new employee keep him busy and surprisingly entertained.Franco Wicks, played by Brandon Gill, is the exuberant, fun-loving and hilarious employee that Arthur is persuaded to hire. Franco draws Arthur’s emotions in different directions, minute after minute. Although he drives Arthur crazy most of the time, Arthur accepts him as not only a helpful  employee, but also as a caring friend.”There’s this old ex-hippie guy in Chicago who owns a donut shop; he’s kind of a loner,” Daryll Heysham, a graduate faculty member at Point Park said. “He runs into this … energetic, bright African American kid, and they strike up an unlikely friendship and end up helping each other in many ways.”Gill is a young, successful actor who pursued his dreams early in life and attended two prestigious schools while he was in the making.”Brandon Gill is the real deal,” Margie Romero, public relations communications manager of the Pittsburgh Public Theater, said. “He told me that he’s known since he was five years old that he wanted to be an actor. He backed that passion up with some really excellent training, attending New York’s LaGuardia High School and then Juilliard. Now 24, he has had a good bit of success, but it hasn’t gone to his head. He is an extremely nice guy and so happy to be in Pittsburgh and just thrilled with the audience’s reaction to his performance and the show.”When Franco is cornered in the donut shop by Luther, played by Daryll Heysham, due to his gambling debt, times get tough. Threatening gestures are made and although Franco is working hard to pay back the debt, $16,000 is a steep amount of money to owe.”[Luther’s] basically a bookie, so he takes bets for people,” Heysham said. “He’s like a gambler and a bookie and a lone shark. Some people would say he’s a bad guy, but this is just how he makes his living.”Heysham currently teaches accent classes at Point Park while earning his Master of Fine Arts in acting and has taught acting and voice classes in the past. Heysham graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fine arts from Ohio State University and “Superior Donuts” is his third show at Pittsburgh Public and also his third collaboration with Ted Pappas.”Ted Pappas is a wonderful director,” Sharon Brady, a Point Park professor who plays Lady Boyle, said. “He has an absolute vision for getting the play ‘from the page to the stage,’ is intelligent, funny, articulate, knows the play backwards and forwards, and has absolute respect for actors.”Brady previously contributed to productions at Pittsburgh Public, including “You Can’t Take it with You,” also directed by Pappas  and “Cyrano de Bregerac,” directed by Eddie Gilbert.Brady and Heysham are both members of Actors’ Equity Association, which is the union of professional actors and stage managers in the U.S”My character is a seemingly disturbed ‘bag lady’ … with great insight,” Brady said.Brady’s character, ‘Lady Boyle’ visits the donut shop regularly, demanding a donut and offering witty comments and quotations that are sometimes relevant, but mostly are not.When Franco is badly hurt by Luther and his threatening crew due to Franco’s delay in making his payments, Arthur, Lady and the police officers unite to welcome Franco back to the shop despite Arthur’s bad news.Heysham described the meaning of “Superior Donuts” as “strangers becoming friends.””I think ‘Superior Donuts’ has it all,” Romero said. “A really good story with lots of action, surprises and characters you care about. The curtain calls have been amazing; to hear the audience roar with approval and stand and cheer is very exciting.”