Interview: Playwright Will Power Reveals the Inner Workings of FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN

Will Power’s Fetch Clay, Make Man (a co-production of Center Theatre Group and The SpringHill Company) will open June 18, 2023, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Debbie Allen, in her CTG directorial debut, directs this account of the unlikely (but real life) friendship between the great Cassius Clay and the controversial Stepin Fetchit; with the cast of Ray Fisher, Edwin Lee Gibson, Wilkie Ferguson II, Alexis Floyd and Bruce Nozick.

I managed to spar with Will over a few behind-the-scenes queries.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Will!

What inspired you to write Fetch Clay, Make Man in 2009?

I was back home in San Francisco one time, visiting from New York. I grew up in a once predominantly African American neighborhood called the Fillmore (known for the Fillmore Auditorium of 1960s rock fame, and once known as the “Harlem of the West” before gentrification). Anytime I was visiting, I would always stop by a bookstore called “Marcus Books” named after the pro-black revolutionary of the early 20th century, Marcus Garvey. I would always visit this bookstore when in town, as they would have books and things about Black culture that you simply couldn’t find anywhere else at the time. Plus, I was good friends with the family who owned it. Upon this visit I saw an incredibly large poster-type book that was literally placed on a mantle. It was a book featuring picture of Muhammad Ali. One of the pictures was of Ali and his entourage during the coming of the second Ali-Liston fight. And next to him was once famous and now publicly disgraced film actor Stepin Fetchit. What? What is Ali and Stepin Fetchit doing in a picture together?

Growing up in the 1970s, Ali was our hero in the black community, he was fearless, poetic, strong, handsome, smart, he was a winner! Everything we as young children wanted to be. I learned about Stepin Fetchit from some of the older men in the community. I was shown a few clips of his movies and was told that he was the ultimate traitor to Black people because of his “willingness” to play such stereotypical roles. He was looked on literally as an Uncle Tom, the “anti-Christ” to African Americans. I never really researched it further than that at the time, being a child, I just assumed that was the truth of it. However, when I saw them in a picture together, and Fetchit was listed as “Ali’s Secret Strategist,” I knew there was much more there to who each man really was, and more to what the story of their relationship was (and the story of that historical moment) than meets the eye. This sent me on a research journey, and the more I looked into it, the deeper, more bizarre, and more complex the story of these two men meeting became. The play is my imaginative take on what happened behind the scenes during the second very crucial Ali-Liston match, though the play is very much best on factual events, and/or what Ali and Fetchit said happened, though we may never know the full truth!

How old were you when you first saw a Stepin Fetchit movie?

 I saw clips when I was about 5 years old.

Have you tweaked your script any for this Center Theatre Group production since your 2010 premiere at McCarter Theatre Center?

Yes!  Since the McCarter, the script underwent tons of rewrites to ready it for a New York run in 2013. Since then and moving towards this L.A. premiere, I have made mostly small changes/edits to really tightening the script. 

When does your script become set in stone? After first workshop reading? Post dress or tech rehearsals?

There’s always a possibility that new things will come up! Usually, after a second major production the play is complete. Though like I said, I made some changes for this production with CTG-Springhill.

Besides Ray Fisher, have you worked with any Fetch Clay, Make Man’s cast or creatives before?

Yes! The actor Edwin Lee Gibson, who is playing Lincoln Perry/Stepin Fetchit, is an old collaborator. We’ve worked on four major productions together and a number of developmental workshops. Edwin won an Obie award for his portrayal of Oedipus in my hip hop theater adaptation of Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes (retitled The Seven). The play is considered a cornerstone in the hip hop theater canon, and a precursor and influential piece to later works such as Hamilton.

You are known for being one of the pioneers and co-creators of hip hop theater. Tell us how hip hop came to be from your innovative mind.

 Ah - too much to get into!

You have received numerous awards for your writing and performing (The Doris Duke Artist Award, an Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Grant, a Lucille Lortel Award, a United States Artist Prudential Fellowship, an NEA/TCG Residency Grant, TCG Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, a NYFA Award, a Joyce Foundation Award, and 2020 Elliot Norton Award (Outstanding New Script, Detroit Red). Any one acknowledgement still stands above the rest?

I am extremely thankful for all of the awards that you mentioned! The Duke Award and the Lucille Lortel were probably the most impactful thus far as far as transforming my career. Again, all of them are very appreciated!

What gives you greater gratification: Typing “THE END” on a script? Or taking your curtain call to well-earned applause?

The play is not complete for me until it is performed in front of an audience, hopefully after a long preview period to work out any kinks. I would say after the curtain call, but not me on stage but rather watching from the house, that’s fun. That being said, typing “end of play” to the completion of the first draft is very gratifying and humbling. It’s like there is still quite a bit of work to be done, but we have something tangible here to work from.

Do you have a few script ideas percolating in your creative brain?

A whole bunch!

What’s in the future for Will Power?

Lots of things! But they haven’t been announced yet so can’t say. I do have work premiering in New York next year and in 2025, and a major production of a new piece going up in Los Angeles in the fall of 2024!

Last question: When your parents named you, were they into positive puns? I can’t think of a more affirmative name than yours.

Ah! I was named Will, then I received the name Power in the 1980s as a very young artist. The Will I was given by my parents, the Power I had to find on my own!

Thank you again, Will! I look forward to experiencing our Muhammad Ali and Stepin Fetchit.

For tickets to the live performances of Fetch Clay, Make Man through July 16, 2023; click on the button below:

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