Review: CLYDE'S at Mark Taper Forum

"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

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