CLYDE'S Comes to Portland Center Stage in June

Closing out its season of plays, Portland Center Stage will welcome Lynn Nottage’s hit Clyde’s. Fresh from Broadway in an all-new production, Clyde’s features a mix of local and national actors on stage, June 1 - 30, 2024. Following this production’s celebrated East Coast premiere at Syracuse Stages earlier this year, Portland audiences will experience the hilarity, the dramedy, the absurdity that observes the formerly incarcerated cooks of a rundown truck stop diner on their quest to craft the perfect sandwich. The Hollywood Reporter calls Clyde’s "an absolutely thrilling experience. Laugh-out-loud funny!" This production of Clyde's is sponsored by Benjamin R. and Elaine M. Whiteley Family Fund of Oregon Community Foundation. Tickets are on sale now, including sliding scale tickets for BIPOC Affinity Night, a.k.a. The People’s Party, on Friday, June 14, at 2:00 p.m. 

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage tantalizes audiences with her latest creation, Clyde’s, a delicious comedy infused with laughter, redemption, and the transformative power of restorative justice. Within the walls of Clyde's truck stop diner, a motley crew of formerly incarcerated individuals navigate the challenges of their newfound freedom under the watchful eye of their formidable, yet spectacularly-dressed boss. As they strive to craft the ultimate sandwich, audiences are treated to a menu brimming with lovable characters, audacious dreams, and a heartwarming narrative that leaves a lasting impression. Nominated for the prestigious Tony Award for Best Play in 2022, Clyde’s promises a theatrical experience that satisfies the soul from start to finish.

In a co-production with Syracuse Stage, where this production of Clyde’s premiered in early 2024, audiences and critics alike laud the delectable language, characters, and over 70 sandwiches crafted on stage by the cast of mostly Portland actors. Director Chip Miller, also Associate Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage, says of the production, “With humor and heart, Clyde’s is a meditation on how we access our humanity after we’ve been robbed of it and the power of a collective to make small, but significant steps towards redemption through the act of nourishing others. I cannot wait to share the rich and delicious world of these characters with Portland audiences.”

“Clyde's entertains, illuminates and satisfies.  It serves up a world of possibilities if we are brave enough to be vulnerable and simply propose, ‘What if a sandwich represents our love?’ It is a play to experience and savor, surely deserving a Michelin theatrical star.” –BroadwayWorld

The cast and creative team for Clyde’s have come together from across the United States, with Portland-based director (and PCS Associate A.D.) Chip Miller at the helm, along with Portland actors Andrea Vernae (School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, Gem of the Ocean) as the stylish and standoffish titular character, Clyde; Setareki Wainiqolo (Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really) as ever-innovative sandwich connaisseur Montrellous; Lauren Steele (HAIR, the ripple, the wave that carried me home, tick, tick… BOOM!) as sweet and strong Letitia; Orion Bradshaw (Redwood) as the fresh-out new hire Jason; and in his onstage PCS debut, Pascal Arquimedes, playing excitable and romance-loving cook, Rafael. 

Audiences will be transported to the quintessential diner kitchen with oversized truck stop sign in a world of its own, built by scenic designer Britton Mauk, and casual kitchen-wear costumes are juxtaposed with bright, bold, and audacious numbers worn by Clyde herself, designed by Tony-nominated costume designer Dominique Fawn Hill, with wigs and hair designed by Dylinn Andrew. Lights, designed by Marika Kent, will transport viewers between reality and dreams, and Phil Johnson’s sound design weaves together good music and lively background sounds, together building a world and bringing us into the Clyde’s diner and into the dreams of the cast of Clyde’s.
 

For more information on the show, please visit https://www.pcs.org/clydes. 

To post a comment, you must register and login.