<> In the kitchen of the truck stop diner that gives the play its title, the cooks making the sandwiches have all served time. And these distractions and a ghosted date with Letitia cause him to fall off the wagon and begin using drugs again. Creating the perfect sandwich is the shared quest of the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of Clydes, a truck stop cafe. Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of marginalized people. Clyde is a foul-mouthed, scrappy ex-con with an attitude that makes it easy for her to demean and taunt her employeesshe views them as being nobodies because all have done prison time. CLYDE'S - City Theatre Company 1995: Nottage enters the NYC theater scene with Por'Knockers, a political satire that played at the . . She is a professor of Playwriting at Columbia University. Clydes Review: Sometimes a Hero Is More Than Just a Sandwich, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/theater/clydes-review.html. Theaters around America appear to be staging fewer shows than they were before the pandemic, but a lot of the work they are doing is by Lynn Nottage. She always wants the sandwiches to come out faster, and she has no patience for the culinary ambition thats growing in the kitchen under her nose. Each character in Lynn Nottage's play shares a common bit of history-each has been incarcerated. Nottage conducted interviews with steelworkers in Reading, Pennsylvania. >H|MF. She wears formfitting clothes that highlight her curves and pedestal her dcolletage. She speaks about the idea of theatre as a form of archive, an idea she credits to the late George Bass, a teacher who was an influence at Brown University. Theater Review: Clyde's on Broadway, In the Southern Breeze - Vulture The criminal justice system used to bus people to Reading when they got out because there was an abundance of work, she says. NEW YORK With the official opening Tuesday of " Clyde's ," Lynn Nottage's highly entertaining comedy of kitchen nightmares at a Pennsylvania truck stop, Broadway's cup of bracing. The systems that control our lives institutional racism, predatory capitalism, the prison-industrial complex seem as powerful and implacable as gods. Amazon.com: Clyde's: 9781636700007: Nottage, Lynn: Books In Sweat, a dive bar. In Sweat, a dive bar. I think the most poignant moment is the very end where they are all making a sandwich together, she says. In an early private moment, Clyde and Montrellouswho have a history that remains shrouded throughout the playare arguing about the future of the shop. 2021: Nottage writes the book for MJ, the Michael Jackson jukebox musical. The American Theater lists are based on a survey of theaters that are members of Theater Communications Group; in the 2019-20 season, respondents reported planning to stage 2,229 full-run shows; this season, even with the first-time addition of audio and streaming shows, as well as productions on Broadway, the count is only 1,298. When they got out, they were in this liminal space. 2022: Clydes joins MJ on Broadway, while across town at the Met, Nottage collaborates with composer Ricky Ian Gordon to producer the opera version of Intimate Apparel. Clyde's centres around a truck-stop diner. At Studio Theatre, Lynn Nottage's 'Clyde's' serves up hope and humor Great comedic chops. Tish, in Youngs superb performance, is a smart, sharp, heavily defended kitten; Rafael, a huggable romantic; Montrellous, an impeccably kind sage like a Buddha, Rafael says, if hed grown up in the hood. Jones fulfills that description perfectly, correcting for the characters Zen imperturbability with subtle dashes of pain and sacrifice. He became the foundation for Montrellous who I call the Buddha from the hood. Nottage describes Clyde's as magical realism, and says it's set both in the kitchen of a sandwich shop and a liminal space. Opening Night is September 19, 2022. 2018: The Public premieres Mlimas Tale, which follows the ghost of a slaughtered elephant. Shes like an ungenerous sketch-comedy depiction of a woman we want to meet, whom Aduba could, I think, play well: wrathful and dangerous, yes, but welling up and bubbling over with a pastand some drastic actionto justify it. (Another character suffers a traumatic brain injury in the process.) The survey also found that there were 24 productions of Nottage plays planned this season, which ties her with the perennial regional theater favorite Lauren Gunderson for the title of most-produced playwright in America. Clydes opened on Broadway in November of 2021. on Broadway, while across town at the Met, Nottage collaborates with composer Ricky Ian Gordon to producer the opera version of. Led by sandwich sensei Montrellous, can the team juggle customer orders, darkpasts and their boss incessant mind games to avoid having theiraspirations burnt to a crisp? 2001: After taking some time away around the birth of her daughter, Nottage returns to the theater with Las Meninas (San Jose Repertory Theatre), which follows the affair between Queen Marie-Therese and Nabo, her African servant. A Lynn Nottage play often makes use of a liminal space. Both approaches render surfaces rather than spirit. Popping up like a demon in a small window between the front and the back of the restaurant, she roars orders and insults; when she emerges, in full glory, among her minions, it is only to exert her fearful, foul-mouthed dominance. What is Clyde but a greasy-spoon Satan, the diabolical voice seductively whispering Dont get too high on hope to people trying to escape their past? Lynn Nottage was born in Brooklyn in 1964, the daughter of a school teacher and a child psychologist. They go there when they need something., Sustenance is a recurring theme in Clydes. Last show I was in, I wouldnt even tell my relatives, Millie says. 40 N. 2nd Street As the day wears on, Clyde is constantly ringing the bell for sandwich orders to be taken, as she periodically flirts with Jason while wearing suggestive clothing with matching boots. An annual survey by American Theater magazine, conducted this year for the first time since the start of the pandemic, found that Nottages sandwich shop comedy, Clydes, will be the most-produced play in the country this season, with at least 11 productions. Montrellous is the king of the groupI would call him a sandwich whisperer, because the other three sandwich chefs cling onto his every word, and an angelic lighting seems to glow whenever he shares his recipe for the perfect sandwich as they are all encouraged to do throughout the 95-minute performance. Lynn Nottage's 'Clyde's' is a comedy with great social commentary. Shes not the only cynical one: her castmate Millie (the very funny Jessica Frances Dukes) is in a wry fury about how poorly shes served by the roles shes made to play. When Montrellous says that sandwiches like his grilled halloumi on home-baked herb focaccia are the most democratic of all foods or that this sandwich is my freedom we see something about his personality, not just the playwright waving semaphore flags. In Clydes, Uzo Aduba plays the formerly incarcerated owner of a sandwich shop. 1993: Lynn Nottage makes her professional debut with the Actors Theatre of Louisvilles production of Poof, a one-act comedy about a woman whose abusive husband spontaneously combusts. What can humans do about fate, these playwrights suggest, but submit to it and hope to preserve the story? The photographer who claimed to capture the. At her best, her eyes, deep with feeling, are like bowls left out in the rain, steadily filling up with the liquid stuff of personality. He leads the group in sessions of visualization and conjecturewhat kind of sandwich can your mind conjure up? The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. <> I was interested in people whose lives have been interrupted. The lighting, by Christopher Akerlind, tries to indicate emotionwhen Montrellous is rhapsodizing, he gets a fuchsia glowbut nothing that any character says steers the play in a new direction. Nottage first made her name with 2003s Intimate Apparel, which follows Esther, a black seamstress, who stitches elegant corsets in the bedroom of her New York boarding house at the turn of the 20th century. We are making plans to ensure the health and safety of our audiences, artists, and staff. View 13 images "Critic's Pick. Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox! Into this uncomfortable equilibrium comes Jason (Edmund Donovan), recently out of prison and covered with white supremacist tattoos. Montrellous lets slip that Clyde has fallen into gambling debt, and that the shop is somehow mixed up in the trouble. Im really quite humbled to be back on the most-produced list with this particular play, which speaks to the moment, as it is about the process of resurrecting ones spirit and finding grace in the simple business of living.. Playwrights sometimes do the same. At home, her mother assembled friends around the kitchen table. Clyde's on Broadway Is a Comedic Feast With a Serious Point In Sweat, steelworkers resisting their union-busting management inexorably wind up busting one another. Clyde's | Huntington Theatre Company They are caught up in some way or another by the forces of history, shaped by the confluence of race, class and gender. "Feisty comedy is on the menu" (Washington Post) in two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's latest Broadway triumph. Dominatrix. Aduba, far left, as the shady restaurant proprietor Clyde, and her cooks, from left: Reza Salazar, Kara Young, Jones and Edmund Donovan. On a long stretch of highway, in the middle of here and there, Clydes truck stop diner sizzles with the aroma of possibility and redemption.Between slinging grilled cheese and tuna melts, the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff at Clydes dream of creating the perfect recipe. CLYDE'S | By Lynn Nottage Ensemble Theatre 430 subscribers 552 views 7 months ago On a long stretch of highway, in the middle of here and there, Clyde's truck stop diner sizzles with. Jason (Edmund Donovan) is the new guy, initially quiet and sullen, marked up with white-supremacist tattoos. WINNER: 4 DRAMA DESK AWARDS NOMINATED: 5 TONY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST NEW PLAY. Anyone can read what you share. "Feisty comedy is on the menu" ( Washington Post) in two . Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Critic's Pick! 2004: Nottage follows up her success with, Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine, 2008: After several years of research, Nottage wins her first Pulitzer for, 2011: Nottage goes for bright, nuanced, comedy with. Funny, moving, and urgent, Clyde's shows Lynn Nottage's "genius for bringing politically charged themes to life by embodying them in ordinary characters living ordinary lives" (The Wall Street Journal). All the play's characters are formerly incarcerated, including. View our Health and Safety Plan 84 Luckie St. NW 1995: Nottage enters the NYC theater scene with Por'Knockers, a political satire that played at the Vineyard Theatre. Which is not to say the choices are easy. ClydesThrough Jan. 16 at the Helen Hayes Theater, Manhattan; 2st.com. Clydes is suggested for ages 13 and up. In May, her 2021 comedy, which revolves around formerly incarcerated workers who find purpose making sandwiches at a truck-stop diner, premieres in Australia at Sydneys Ensemble Theatre. Philadelphia, PA 19106 Down on their luck and released from prison, the small team has battled addiction, explosive anger, poverty, and more in Lynn Nottage's "Clyde's" at the Huntington Theatre Company mainstage . endobj People who have seen Sweat will recognize him as one of the perpetrators of a heinous attack on a Colombian American busboy at the climax of that play, also set in Reading. A one-time nonprofessional fee of $300.00 (plus shipping and handling) will be added. 'Ruined' is the winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and . Lynn Nottage's 'Clyde's' brings comic force to a story of those Mass Market Paperback. . The kitchen is staffed exclusively by formerly incarcerated individuals looking for their shot at redemption. After work, she would invite a bunch of friends and over a big bottle of wine they would sit and drink and tell stories and never get up, she smiles. Elaine Hegwood Bowen, M.S.J. CLYDE'S by Lynn Nottage Under the watchful eye of the titular character, Clyde's follows the kitchen staff of a truck stop in a small PA town. Clyde- Late 30's - 50's. Black. 2017: With longtime director Kate Whoriskey and her husband, the filmmaker Tony Gerber, Nottage pilots, a site-specific piece designed to run in the same Pennsylvania town where she set. This is supposed to deepen the bonds among them, and, perhaps, to offer a well of complexity not often granted to working-class people chewed up by the system and given a harsh set of choices: eat shit, starve, or go back in. a runaway hit exploring 70 years in the life of a (fictional) Hollywood starlet. endobj Theatrical Outfit 2023 | The Balzer Theater at Herrens | 84 Luckie Street | Atlanta, GA 30303. In yet another, a pro forma (but totally heartwarming) romance buds between two of the characters. Lynn Nottage's Clyde's has made its way to Houston's Ensemble Theatre after its 2021 world premiere on Broadway and its subsequent productions across the United States where it was listed as the . Lynn Nottage's Clyde's Is a Hangout Comedy That Packs a Punch From the set to the smell, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's latest work satiates audiences' desire for stories about. Uzo Aduba and Ron Cephas Jones in 'Clyde's' Joan Marcus Ten years ago, playwright Lynn Nottage started interviewing the working-class citizens of Reading, PAat the time one of the poorest . My daughter was born and then my mother died, and it shifted my notion of what and who I wanted to write about, she says. Lynn Nottage's plays include 'Crumbs from the Table of Joy,' 'Fabulation' and 'Intimate Apparel,' for which she was awarded the Francesca Primus Prize and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award in 2004. He pokes and prods Wiletta, expressing dissatisfaction with her performance as a mother whose son is in big trouble, asking her to justify her characters decisions, not merely to act them out with rote professionalism. Sad tales are divots for us to navigate between laughs. Theyre all under the thrall of the sagelike Montrellous (Ron Cephas Jones), a kind of sandwich guru, who wants to jazz up the place with new recipes and more tender attention to ingredients. September 10 - October 9 in the Albert Theatre. (In New York, there are three: Into the Woods, which opened on Broadway this summer; Merrily We Roll Along, running at New York Theater Workshop this winter; and Sweeney Todd, coming to Broadway next spring.). It is also about community, healing, creativity, mindfulness and forgiveness, she said. Another underdeveloped plotline explores the possibility of the diner becoming a destination restaurant. Privacy and Terms of Use. This was my first time at a performing arts theatre since late February 2020, and it was a delicious treat. In this case the shortcuts were totally worth it; that Clydes is a comedy does not mean it doesnt have tragedy baked in. Letitia (Kara Young) got greedy and stole some oxy and addy to sell on the side after breaking into a pharmacy to obtain seizure medication for her daughter. Young, left, plays Tish who stole some oxy and addy to sell on the side. And Salazar, as Rafael, held up a bank to buy his girlfriend a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Loves to expose vulnerabilities. Lynn Nottages new play, Clydes, directed by Kate Whoriskey (at the Helen Hayes), about the staff of a run-down sandwich joint at a truck stop, takes a stark either-or stance regarding the lives of its characters. Though its still about dark things, including prison, drugs, homelessness and poverty, it somehow turns them into bright comedy. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. In the kitchen of a truck stop diner near Reading, PA, a group of formerly incarcerated cooks work together to get their shot at redemption. Clyde's: Thirty Years of Lynn Nottage's Theatre. Trouble in Mind is pessimistic about the structures that underpin the entertainment industry, but it is bullish about the possibilities of earnest artistic pursuit. In Lynn Nottages bright new comedy, cooks at a greasy spoon dream of remaking the menu and their lives. 2003: Inspired by her grandmothers persistence as a New York City seamstress, Nottage writes Intimate Apparel; the play debuts at Baltimore Center Stage to widespread critical acclaim, and Nottage becomes one of the nations most prominent theatrical figures. Their first collaboration, 2003 . In Lynn Nottages new play, characters life stories come between slapstick riffs on sandwich-making; Alice Childresss 1955 play makes its muchbelated Broadway dbut. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Clyde is an ex-convict, and so are the people who work for her, a fact that she hangs over their heads like rain in a cloud at every opportunitynobody else is going to hire them, so theyd better submit to her whims, however brutal. The puzzle of someones bearing and outward presentation gives way to the collection of secrets and fears and family history that make upand, over time, help to explainthat person. Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Other Plays: Nottage, Lynn I decided that I could research what her life would have been like. In the kitchen of a truck stop diner near Reading, PA, a group of formerly incarcerated cooks work together to get their shot at redemption. I cant wait to share Clydes with the Chicago community, and with audiences in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group later this fall., Director Kate Whoriskey said, Im thrilled to work with Tony Award nominee DeAdre Aziza, Nedra Snipes and Garrett Youngas well as to continue developing this play with our original collaborators Reza Salazar and Kevin Kenerly.. And Jason is new to the diner and not trusted by the others, because he obviously has tattoos that are believed to be gang tributes. I dont do pity, she says.) Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. 1996: In her play Mud, River, Stone (Playwrights Horizons), Nottage crafts a romantic comedy that doubles as an allegory about imperialism in Africa. The play takes place in Clydes, a truck stop sandwich shop frequented by truckers making the long journey across Pennsylvania. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. It's useful to have that other. Theres something alien and ineffable about them that cant be reduced to mere facts, or be rationalized by psychology. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season Lynn Nottage's 'Clyde's' is a comedy with great social commentary It also helps that Takeshi Katas cleverly expanding set, lit for comedy by Christopher Akerlind, allows Whoriskey to hit the ground running and barely pause for 95 minutes. Dominic ChaconSound DesignerStephon DorseyStage ManagerAlec E. FerrellAssistant to the Stage ManagerKatie Meade, Thursday, January 26, 2023, 7:00 PMPreview, Saturday, January 28, 2023, 8:00 PMPreview, Tuesday, January 31, 2023, 7:00 PMPreview, Wednesday, February 1, 2023, 7:00 PMOpening Night Sold Out, Friday, February 24, 2023, 8:00 PMAudio Description/Caption, Saturday, February 25, 2023, 2:00 PMAudio Description/Caption, 215.922.1122 Manners, who is white, thinks the play is on the cutting edge of race relationsat least, as close to that edge as the theatres commercial imperatives will allow. CLYDES is a sweet and salty new Broadway comedy from Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Sweat). All rights reserved. When Rafael complains about the rotting Chilean sea bass she expects him to cook, she responds, approximately, You think Colonel Sanders didnt fry up a couple of rats to make ends meet?. CLYDE'S - Theatrical Outfit Hes often late and doesnt understand the need for any extra effort to make Clydes diner any more successful. Her two Pulitzer Prizes are for works in which the world and its people are trapped in an abusive relationship. Part of my desire as I got older was to amplify some of the beautiful and important and tragic stories that I heard.. They were all storytellers. Her director, Al Manners (Michael Zegen), fancies himself a social and artistic progressive. The world they show us is too dark for anything but the cruelest of tales, the bleakest of forms. That they discover the power of that imagination in the most unlikely way, by making food, is what makes the play funny. (The other characters, in this production, are Black and Latino.) By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Over Zoom from London, where shes in previews for her new project, The Secret Life of Bees, she draws me warmly into conversation. Deeply felt, quirky, and urgent, CLYDES shows Lynn Nottages genius for bringing politically charged themes to life by embodying them in ordinary characters living ordinary lives (The Wall Street Journal). But the life stories come between slapstick riffs on sandwich-making and kitchen etiquettea bunch of well-performed gagsand as a result the play has trouble finding its tone. Starring Uzo Aduba. Lynn Nottage is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Clydes opens May 5 at the Ensemble Theatre. Nottage grew up in Boerum Hill, a Brooklyn neighbourhood that was once a haven for artists, hippies and working-class communities. ee#{Jn`j}$O3$x;$3$22)C"3c\lljI%&EI>rxyY^NQ31(Oi9{lPe,yuL*wfIsUQX_8}%g`Mx*fgd0YZ[W^Wr@;t Even a schmuck like Manners can read some Stanislavsky, bring it clumsily into rehearsals, and, unwittingly, spark the beginnings of a revolution. Atlanta, GA 30303, 678.528.1500 Hours: Tues Sat from 12pm 5pm, Packages Her plays have been produced at theaters throughout the country. <>/Metadata 63 0 R/ViewerPreferences 64 0 R>> Clydes centres around a truck-stop diner. 2003: Inspired by her grandmothers persistence as a New York City seamstress, Nottage writes. She is bent on making the crew miserable, while hopping all over each other to answer her commands. Rafael (Reza Salazar) fumblingly pines for her.

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