Review: CLYDE'S at Mark Taper Forum
Clyde's runs through December 18, 2022.
"Sometimes a hero is more than just a sandwich."
Quite possibly, a perfect production. Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage's Tony Award-nominated CLYDE'S at the Mark Taper Forum is heartfelt, funny, and seriously delicious.
From writing to performances, direction to delivery, costuming, scenic, sound, and lighting design, opening night saw 100% on the Richter scale of live theater.
Ordinary people facing real-world struggles, Montrellous (Kevin Kenerly), Letitia (Nedra Snipes), Rafael (Reza Salazar), and Jason (Garret Young) are dreaming in full-blown technicolor. As they struggle to restart their lives post-incarceration, in the kitchen of Clyde's Truck Stop diner, they are under pressure from their fiery and sometimes abusive owner Clyde (Tamberla Perry) to tread the straight, narrow, bland, and boring path of food service. But undercover at their stations together they dream about creating the perfectly balanced ingredients for a delectable meal between two layers of bread.
CLYDE'S is loaded with laugh-out-loud jokes and quippy dialogs. It's a kind of TV sitcom-like perfection thrillingly paced in a live stage production that is downright masterful. With Montrellous as the group's elected Epicurus, everything for them is within reach, no matter how difficult and no matter what they're told by the wholly immovable Clyde who constantly tries to keep them in their places.
Superbly directed by veteran Nottage collaborator, Kate Whoriskey, CLYDE'S is a beautifully moving and passionate comedy about the human condition, second chances and people who have been discarded by society but who won't be deterred from their happy endings...or the pursuit of the perfect sandwich.
One of the more exciting offerings of the season, CLYDE'S is a triumph for Nottage and a treat for Los Angeles theater audiences.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
A co-production with Center Theatre Group and Goodman Theatres present The Second Stage Theater Production of
Clyde's
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
With: Kevin Kenerly, Tamberla Perry, Reza Salazar, Nedra Snipes, and Garrett Young
Scenic Design: Takeshi Kata
Costume Design: Jennife Moeller
Lighting Design: Christopher Akerlind
Sound Design: Justin Elington
Composer: Justin Hicks
Hair and Wig Design: Cookie Jordan
Craig Schwartz Photography
DATES:
November 20 through December 18, 2022
Tuesday through Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2:30pm and 8pm, Sunday at 1pm and 6:30pm.
No Monday performances.
TICKET INFO:
Ticket prices: $35-$120
(Ticket prices are subject to change.)
Tickets are available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 628-2772 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles.
Groups: (213) 972-7231. Deaf, hard of hearing and/or have low vision community: For more information, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org/ACCESS
LOCATION:
Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum
135 N. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA 90012
From This Author - Tracey Paleo
Tracey Paleo is a member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.
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