‘Clyde’s’ is about hope—topped with aioli
In Clyde’s, which previewed at Berkeley Rep Jan. 20, and opens Jan. 25, a hero is usually a sandwich—nevertheless it may also be somebody attempting to rebuild their life.
The 2022 Tony-nominated play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage is a comic book drama, nevertheless it additionally addresses the very actual points previously incarcerated individuals face, together with discovering jobs which have any which means, together with an precise street out of their earlier lives.
Set in Studying, PA, Clyde’s intersects the tales of Leticia (Tish), busted for stealing medication; Rafael, who held up a financial institution with a BB gun; and Montrellous, whose crime stays considerably elusive, with that of feminine store proprietor Clyde, who was additionally as soon as in jail, probably for killing her then-boyfriend. Clyde isn’t any bleeding coronary heart, nonetheless. She hires ex-cons as a result of they’ll work for low wages, and isn’t shy about reminding them of their few different choices.
However by way of assistance from the diner’s “mysterious chef,” every employee is inspired to dream up after which create “the right sandwich.” Concepts—and meals—start to fly.
Since its premiere, Clyde’s has been embraced by audiences throughout the U.S., turning into the most-produced play within the nation in 2022. Reached by electronic mail, Nottage commented on this: “A part of the explanation I feel it resonates the best way it does is because of the comedic nature of the play. Clyde’s is to me a lovely metaphor for creativity, reinvention and the methods wherein we creatively maintain ourselves. It’s additionally about shifting by way of a troublesome second, which we’ve been doing culturally and globally, for what appears like an eternity, and discovering methods to maneuver ahead in direction of happiness.”
She famous that she didn’t base the play on an actual diner. There’s a fantastical, virtually magical tinge to the story behind the depiction of labor which may feed Clyde’s clients, but in addition, in some way, begins to feed its characters’ souls.
Clyde’s opened in November 2012 at Second Stage’s Helen Hayes Theatre. It received the Outer Critics Circle Award for “Excellent New Broadway Play,” and was nominated for a Tony Award as “Finest Play.”
Amongst different corporations staging the play are the Arden Theater Firm in Philadelphia, the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, the Arkansas Repertory Theater, Middle Theater Group in Los Angeles, TheaterWorks Hartford and now, Berkeley Rep.
The Washington Put up wrote, “What melts away as you get to know the characters are the monumental stigmas connected to jail time…Jason is inked to the max with jail tats, a few of them racist symbols, however the story behind them reveals one thing surprising. Letitia (Tish,)…is all adolescent vitality and grownup anxiousness, the latter introduced on as a single mom caring for a sick baby…Rafael wants an emotional residence for his nurturing instincts, as a substitute for his weak point for medication.”
The Chicago Tribune had a really particular tackle the play: “By organising a battle between a tyrannical, mercenary, abusive boss and a gaggle of struggling kitchen staff—on this case, former felons—who’re consistently stymied of their makes an attempt to do their greatest and most unique artistic work, Nottage actually goes after the forces that management Broadway and the higher echelons of the opposite branches of showbiz.”
Bon Appetit, not a typical supply of theater commentary, was moved to chime in in regards to the sandwich concepts dreamed up by Clyde’s staff: “‘Child eggplant parmigiana with puttanesca on an olive and rosemary ciabatta,’ Rafael pitches to the group in a single scene. ‘Bacon, lettuce and grilled squash on cornbread with molasses butter,’ Letitia responds. ‘Curried quail egg salad with mint on oven-fresh cranberry pecan multigrain bread,’ Montrellous declares, getting the ultimate phrase in earlier than Clyde yells for American cheese on white, snapping everybody again to work.”
Taylor Reynolds, director of the Berkeley Rep manufacturing, which is co-produced by Boston’s Huntington Theatre Firm, added, “Plenty of the credit score [for the play’s popularity] is because of the virtuosity of the writing. There’s such humanity within the play…it’s a comedy exhibiting lightness and pleasure in a purgatory house.”
Reynolds is directing her first manufacturing on the Rep. She has a connection to the corporate by way of its affiliate creative director, David Mendizábal, as they’re each producing creative leaders of New York’s Obie Award-winning The Motion Theatre Firm. After growing preliminary relationships with individuals on the Rep on Zoom, she felt at residence with the corporate’s community-based strategy, “and it’s fantastic to really be right here,” she mentioned.
First launched to Nottage’s work by way of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Intimate Attire, Reynolds mentioned she admires the playwright’s means to “cross house and time.” She noticed Sweat on Broadway and is a fan of Crumbs from the Desk of Pleasure. “You perceive [in Nottage’s work] why the characters are within the conditions they’re in,” she defined.
Rehearsals started with 4 days of “desk reads,” wherein actors sit round a desk and informally learn by way of the play, exploring the themes and characters. On this case, they talked about “what’s denied to people who find themselves attempting to rebuild their lives,” mentioned Reynolds. They talked in regards to the which means of “sandwiches,” and the way a kitchen operates. There’s additionally the thought of office friendships. “You suppose you understand somebody. However the majority of their life you don’t find out about,” she mentioned.
She described Clyde’s as “rhythmic and technical,” referring to the comedian timing, in addition to the script being stuffed with bodily motion. Every rehearsal provides in additional of the bodily lifetime of the play. A Rep workers member labored in an analogous kitchen setting at one time, and “got here in to assist us work out how a kitchen like this operates,” she mentioned.
Solid members, together with Wesley Guimarães (Rafael), Cyndii Johnson (Leticia), Louis Reyes McWilliams (Jason), April Nixon (Clyde) and Harold Surratt (Montrellous), had been requested to explain their very own good sandwich. “I feel the phrase ‘aioli’ was used about 20 instances,” Reynolds mentioned. “And I feel we’ve undoubtedly upped Berkeley’s sandwich gross sales.”
Folks have a really complicated relationship with meals, she defined, and within the strategy of engaged on Clyde’s, Reynolds has thought lots about individuals who don’t have entry to sufficient meals, or contemporary meals. “It’s wrapped up in love and luxury. I really feel passionately about the place meals is coming from…who grew it, who harvested it, the way it involves us,” she famous.
In dreaming about making the right sandwich, “you may dream a few completely different life for your self,” mentioned Reynolds. “However,” she added, “hope is a harmful factor.”
Nottage and Reynolds agreed that audiences from the East Bay, one of many priciest and foodie-est areas of the nation, could have their very own tackle the struggles and ambitions of the play’s characters.
“I do really feel that the Berkeley efficiency may have a particular resonance,” Nottage wrote. “In Clyde’s, the thought of being a foodie turns into a method of survival, with the artwork of creating sandwiches and giving individuals the meals they love reworking right into a weapon of resistance.”
Mentioned Reynolds, “[Here in Berkeley], there’s such a wide range of kinds of meals, so many culture-specific meals, with a complexity of flavors. However Clyde’s is a truck cease, with individuals passing by way of.” But the story, she believes, will attain no matter viewers involves see the play.
A earlier directing outing for Reynolds was Rhonda Marie Khan’s FOOD. Requested if performs involving meals had been turning into a speciality of hers, she laughed, however admitted she enjoys working with making meals on stage. It may be chaotic and unpredictable, but in addition completely retains actors and viewers within the second.
Her forged is completely on board with this. “They’re so thrilling,” she mentioned. “Seasoned vets working with individuals newly out of grad college…all of them got here collectively in such a communal approach.” The Berkeley Rep manufacturing might be their very own model of Clyde’s, “diving in headfirst with our personal interpretation.” And, in fact—their very own sandwiches.
‘Clyde’s,’ by way of Feb. 26, Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Peet’s Theatre), 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. 510-647-2949, berkeleyrep.org. Operating time: 90 min, no intermission.
Put up-show discussions Feb. 3, 9 and 14.
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