Theaterworks Hartford Extends Run of Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage's CLYDE'S Through Early August

TheaterWorks Hartford's Clyde’s by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined) will extend through August 5th.

Rob said, “It’s exciting to see audiences coming back. We’re grateful for their faith in us and we’re delighted they’re enjoying this amazing play. There is something very special happening in our theater.” Tickets are now on sale at twhartford.org.

A truck stop sandwich shop offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at reclaiming their lives. Even as the shop’s tough-as-nails owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the crew is given purpose and permission to dream by their shared quest to create the perfect sandwich.

Director Mikael Burke remarked, “Clyde’s is a delicious workplace comedy that reminds us that a great sandwich is so much more than just the sum of its parts. The play asks: Are we just the products of our mistakes, or is it possible to transcend them to become something more? This funny, touching, and tasty tale shows us that while it’s easy to give up on ourselves when the world tells us we should, we must remember to love ourselves fully—mistakes and all—to free ourselves from our own prisons of self-hate. We, too, are more than just the sum of our parts.”

Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero commented, “Clyde’s has everything that our audiences  love: great writing, funny, entertaining, intimate and relatable, and it encourages important conversations in the community. I have wanted to bring director Mikael Burke to TheaterWorks Hartford since we first spoke almost two years ago. A Chicago-based director, his taste and approach completely aligns with our brand and mission. Mikael’s very talented design team is comprised of other Chicago-based theater artists as well as artists from other parts of the country - all completely new to our audiences… it’s a “recipe” for some exciting new work on our stage.”

The cast for Clyde’s includes ​​Ayanna Bria Bakari as Letitia, Michael Chenevert as Montrellous, Samuel María Gómez as Rafael, David T. Patterson as Jason, and LaTonia Phipps as Clyde.

The creative team includes Collette Pollard (Set Design), Alexis Carrie (Costume Design), Eric Watkins (Lighting Design), Christie Chiles Twillie (Sound Design), Delena Bradley (Associate Set Design), TBD Casting / Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA (Casting Director), Rob Ruggiero (Producing Artistic Director), Mike Lenaghan (Director of Production), and Nicole Wiegert (Production Stage Manager).

Performances of Clyde’s will take place July 7–30, 2023 at TheaterWorks Hartford’s historic home, located at 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT. Critics are welcome starting Friday, July 14. The performance schedule is Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2:30pm with no 2:30pm performance on July 8 or 8pm performance on Saturday, July 30. Tickets are priced at $25–$65. All tickets can be purchased online at twhartford.org or by calling 860.527.7838.

The running time is 1 hour, 35 minutes with no intermission. TheaterWorks Hartford no longer requires proof of vaccination. The theater's full Covid Policy can be found here. 

Please visit twhartford.org for more information.

About the Artists

Lynn Nottage (Playwright) is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Broadway credits include Clyde’s (2ST) and Sweat, and the libretto for the musical MJ.  Other work includes the libretto for the opera Intimate Apparel (Lincoln Center Theater); co curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theater); the libretto for the musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees; as well as her plays Mlima's Tale; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers, and POOF!.  She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, among other awards, is an associate professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. www.lynnnottage.com 

Mikael Burke (Director) is a Chicago-based director, deviser, and educator. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre and Jeff Award-nominated director, Mikael’s worked with Goodman Theatre, About Face Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Raven Theatre, Jackalope Theatre Company, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, First Floor Theater, American Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, The Story Theatre, and Windy City Playhouse in Chicago, and regionally with Forward Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis. Recent directing credits include the world premiere of The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest; The Wanderers by Anna Ziegler; Fireflies by Donja R. Love; Mrs. Harrison by R. Eric Thomas; we are continuous by Harrison David Rivers. ​ www.mklburke.com

About the Cast

Ayanna Bria Bakari (Letitia) was seen previously at TheaterWorks Hartford in 2022’s New Works Festival as Marilyn Monroe in Andy Warhol Presents: The Cocaine Play by Terry Guest. Theater credits include Last Night and the Night Before (Steppenwolf), Relentless (Timeline Theatre, Goodman Theatre), Too Heavy For Your Pocket (Timeline Theatre), How To Catch Creation (Goodman Theatre), As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), The Originalist (Indiana Repertory Theatre), Suddenly Last Summer (Raven Theatre), Stickfly and The Niceties (Black Theater Alliance Award Recipient at Writers Theatre). TV / Film: Wu-Tang: An American Saga (HULU), The CHI (Showtime), Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Empire (FOX), 61st Street (AMC), and Holiday Heist (BET). Bakari graduated with a BFA in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is a governing ensemble member of The Story Theatre in Chicago and is represented by Stewart Talent.

Michael Chenevert (Montrellous) is thrilled to return to TheaterWorks Hartford where he most recently performed in The Rembrandt. Regional Theater credits include: Bay Street Theater, Westport Country Playhouse, Arkansas Repertory, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Crossroads Theater. TV credits: The Equalizer, Terror Lake Drive, New Amsterdam, Godfather of Harlem, Ugly Betty, Boardwalk Empire, The Following, Law & Order: SVU. Film credits: Syrup, The Tombs, and Interference. Chenevert has a BFA from University of Detroit Mercy. He has also studied at LIR at Trinity College in Ireland, the Barrow Group and at Susan Batson Studio. He has written and performed a one-man show, called An Adam Experiment.

Samuel María Gómez (Rafael) is making his TheaterWorks Hartford debut. He is a first generation American-Dominican actor, writer and producer hailing from New York City. He is most recently known for his work on ABC/Netflix The Beauty and The Baker, Marvel's The Punisher Season Two and his lead series regular appearance on the original web-series, The Bodega. He has appeared in popular shows such as Madam Secretary, Elementary, Law & Order SVU and FOX's Prodigal Son, Blue Bloods and most recently, FBI. He also is credited with writing and producing the shorts Lucid and The Spectacular Tito Garcia as well as being the creative mind behind the actor centric platform, Monovlogs Presents.

David T. Patterson (Jason) is making his TheaterWorks Hartford debut. Broadway: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Off-Broadway: Picnic, Come Back Little Sheba (Transport Group). Regional credits: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (Capital Rep), Meteor Shower (Theatre Workshop of Nantucket), Noises Off (Cape Playhouse), Sacred Valley (Powerhouse Theater), Third (Hangar Theater), Spamalot, Guys and Dolls (Weathervane Playhouse). TV: FBI, Blue Bloods, Only Murders in The Building, The Gilded Age, Law & Order, The Path, Instinct. Graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

LaTonia Phipps (Clyde) is making her TheaterWorks Hartford debut. She is an actress & writer who hails from Brooklyn, NY. Credits include Clyde’s at The City Theater, African Mean Girls, at The Hanger Theater, Measure for Measure at The Public Theater, Dominque Morrisseau’s Autumns Harvest at Lincoln Center, and Katori Hall’s Children of Killers. Her TV/Film credits include Didn’t I Ask For Tea on Amazon Prime and The Klein Syndicate. You can also catch her on the new BET PLUS show Diarra From Detroit. Phipps made her mark as a writer with her tour-de-force one woman show, Fishing In Brooklyn. And is currently working on writing and creating her first feature film, Untitled.

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