Review: CLYDE'S Nourishes Our Souls at Capital Stage

Capital Stage begins its 2023/2024 season theme of True Identity with socially relevant and thought-provoking theatre in the form of Lynn Nottage’s Tony Award-nominated play, Clyde’s. This 2022 hit is fresh, funny, and full of questions. Do your past choices define who you are, or can you reinvent your true identity?  

Clyde’s is an oasis in a stretch of Pennsylvania that has been long abandoned by hopes and dreams. The diner provides literal and figurative sustenance for truckers and felons, and its famous sandwiches are a mirage covering the purgatory that lies behind the kitchen doors. The titular character is what the love child of Gordon Ramsay and Anna Wintour would be, a cruel, chain-smoking, culinary fashionista with a black heart and an even darker outlook on life. Clyde is played by Kathryn Smith-McGlynn, a wondrous confection of sass and steel. She’s terrifyingly good at apathy until she wants to torment her employees. Like any good tyrant, she rings the Pavlovian diner bell to send them scurrying to do her bidding. In this case, creating edible concoctions out of Clyde’s penchant for cutting corners. If rotten fish doesn’t make her vomit, it’s good enough to serve. Adrian Roberts is her zen sandwich master, Montrellous. Roberts is engaging and believable, blanketing the entire theatre with a calm, meditative caress as he lovingly describes intricate ingredient pairings for sandwiches I would probably not eat in real life, but which sound perfect coming from him. He also acts as a de facto father to the other parolees who work in the kitchen. Letitia aspires to become a real chef and volleys enthusiastically when it’s her turn to come up with a new sandwich. Played by Predictor director Imani Mitchell, Letitia is tough on the outside with a tender center. Mitchell expertly navigates the complex emotions that come with being a single mother trying to support her disabled child with a dead-end job. The resident sous chef, Rafael, takes a special interest in Letitia despite her nutmeg and cinnamon-infused peanut butter and jelly concoction. Rafael is played by Angel Rodriguez, who was last seen at Cap Stage in The Hombres. Rodriguez does an excellent job switching from cowed employee to spurned suitor while bringing passion and depth to the role.  The last ex-con to find salvation in Clyde’s subs is local favorite Ian C. Hopps as Jason. Jason has the most to prove, as his past is the most visible. It’s literally tattooed on his face.

Scenic design by Eric Broadwater, properties design by Riley Cisneros-Gruenthal, and Rebecca Redmond’s costume design create an atmosphere of a roadside greasy spoon that is low on hope but big on survival. As the characters learn to “leave the pain in the pan,” they’re faced with some tough decisions. Are they worthy of redemption and second chances or do their previous crimes deem them unsalvageable? When is a debt to society considered to be paid? Spending time at Clyde’s teaches us many lessons. Not only do we learn to make a mean sandwich, we discover there is strength in numbers, are inspired to follow our dreams, and, most importantly, find that our past mistakes do not need to define us.  

Clyde’s plays at Capital Stage through September 24. More information and tickets may be found online at Capstage.org, by telephone at (916) 995-5464, or in person at the Box Office at 2215 J Street in Sacramento.

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