THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lynn Nottage’s vibrant, vividly staged CLYDE’S shows a raucous new side of the lauded playwright

Uzo Aduba and Ron Cephas Jones in Second Stage Theater’s production of “Clyde’s” by Lynn Nottage at the Helen Hayes Theatre (photo by Joan Marcus).

Last week, Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, courtesy of Second Stage Theater. Having twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Ruined and Sweat, Ms. Nottage is perhaps best known for penning meaty, hard-hitting dramas. Clyde’s – an unabashed all-out comedy – reveals a different side of the esteemed playwright. The new play tells the story of a sandwich shop owner – the titular Clyde – who has taken it upon herself to employ ex-convicts. The rub, however, is that this employer makes it a point to antagonize her workers to their breaking points, as if also embodying the forces that conspire against those on the fringes of our society.

I needn’t have worried about the shift in genres – Ms. Nottage’s is a natural at comic writing, which is as incisive as it is raucous. The playwright also injects a healthy dose of magic realism into her play that gives it an extra boost of theatricality. Although not much happens by way of plot, she’s established a compelling set characters who draw you in with their colorful personalities and authentic back stories. Particularly, in the diabolical Clyde and the saint-like Montrellous (the wise elder statesman of the sandwiche-makers), she’s created mythically-scaled, philosophically-opposed characters who face off in a sort of culinary battle royal for the lives of the souls of the shop’s other employees. Thematically, Ms. Nottage sinuously explores the notions of dignity and the importance role models, especially in a world that conspires against you.

As for the performances, they’re smashing across the board. Leading the way is Uzo Aduba (of Orange Is the New Black), whose fire-breathing, scenery-chewing performance nearly topples the production. She’s a force of nature, for sure. As Montrellous, Ron Cephas Jone is exactly the opposite, exuding the calm, otherworldly gravitas of a Buddha. As the younger, more impressionable shop workers, Reza Salazar, Kara Young, and Edmund Donovan give boisterous, lived-in performances that are achingly underlined with vulnerability. Director Kate Whoriskey does the play proud, vividly staging it in a way that feels perfectly attuned to the pulse of Ms. Nottage’s irresistibly vibrant new comedy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

CLYDE’S
Broadway, Play
Second Stage Theater at the Helen Hayes Theatre
1 hour, 35 minutes (without an intermission)
Through January 16

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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