Full Cast & Creative Team Announced for CLYDE'S at Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has announced the full cast and creative team for two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's Tony Award-nominated play, Clyde's, performing at Berkeley Rep's Peet's Theatre (2025 Addison St., Berkeley) beginning Friday, January 20 and continuing through Sunday, February 26, 2023. Press night will be held on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Tickets ($30 - $135) are on sale now and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org/shows/clyde-s/ or by phone at 510-647-2949 (Tue-Sun, 12-7 p.m.). Ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

In this feel-good comic drama, the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff at a truck-stop sandwich shop attempt to rebuild their lives. While their tough-as-nails boss - who slings sizzling insults fast and processed food even faster - tries to thwart their dreams, each staff member is encouraged by the mysterious chef to indulge in imagining, then creating, their perfect sandwich. A buoyant play full of witty dialogue, Clyde's is a transcendent story about people rising above their past mistakes and reconnecting with the world. Clyde's is a co-production with Huntington Theatre Company.

"It's hard to imagine anyone other than Lynn who could create such a potent blend of politics, humor, and a reminder that even in the most mundane tasks, there exists the possibility of the transcendent," said Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "It is a privilege to put this amazing play into the hands of director Taylor Reynolds, an extraordinary talent who I'm delighted to welcome to Berkeley Rep for the first time."

"I'm so excited to collaborate with Berkeley Rep this season," adds director Taylor Reynolds. "I have been a fan of the many brilliant works that have come out of Berkeley Rep from afar for quite some time and am grateful to finally have my chance to experience it for myself. I'm looking forward to seeing how Bay Area audiences respond to Clyde's, a story of people looking to rebuild and transform their lives, which feels more relatable than ever."

The cast of Clyde's includes (in alphabetical order) Wesley Guimarães (Rafael), Cyndii Johnson (Leticia), Louis Reyes McWilliams (Jason), April Nixon (Clyde), and Harold Surratt (Montrellous).

Directed by Taylor Reynolds, the creative team for Clyde's includes Wilson Chin (Scenic Design), Karen Perry (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), and Aubrey Dube (Sound Design).

Berkeley Rep recognizes the generous support of BART and Peet's Coffee, Berkeley Rep's official season sponsors. Berkeley Rep is also delighted to recognize the support at the season sponsor level of Stephen and Susan Chamberlin, Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer, Louise Gund, Frances Hellman and Warren Breslau, Gisele and Kenneth F. Miller, Jack & Betty Schafer, and The Strauch Kulhanjian Family.

About Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 5.5 million people have enjoyed nearly 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, which have gone on to win six Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, one Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre engages and educates some 20,000 people a year and helps build the audiences of tomorrow with its nationally recognized teen programs. Berkeley Rep's bustling facilities - which also include the 400-seat Peet's Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley - are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org.

Taylor Reynolds

(Director) is a New York-based director from Chicago and one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of Obie-winning The Movement Theatre Company in Harlem. Selected directing credits include La Race (Page 73/Working Theater), Tambo & Bones (Playwrights Horizons/CTG), Man Cave (Page 73), The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, New York Times Critic's Pick), Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally (Baltimore Center Stage/Playwrights Realm), Tough (AADA), Plano (Clubbed Thumb, Drama Desk nomination for Best Director), Songs About Trains (Radical Evolution), and Think Before You Holla (creator/deviser). Taylor has worked as a director, assistant, and collaborator with companies including Keen Company, Ojai Playwrights Conference, MCC, New Georges, MTC, Signature Theatre Company, and The 24 Hour Plays. Taylor is the 2021 LPTW Lucille Lortel Award recipient, a New Georges Affiliated Artist, 2017-2018 Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab alum. Member of SDC.

Wesley Guimarães

(Rafael) is a Brazilian-born actor and a recent graduate from the MFA Program at ACT. This is his debut at Berkeley Rep and a return to his dearly loved theatre community in the Bay Area. His recent credits include The Pliant Girls (ACT) , In Love and Warcraft (ACT), and Cymbeline (ACT Out Loud Series). He dedicates the joy of being in Clyde's to his fiancée Vittoria, and his mother, Maria Ines, the most gifted cook he's ever known. Àṣẹ! IG: @ciaowes (he/his)

Cyndii Johnson

(Leticia) Broadway: Trouble in Mind. Off-Broadway: What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons). Regional theatre: Confederates, Peter and the Starcatcher (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); BLKS (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); How We Got On (The Cleveland Playhouse); Remix 38, The Christians (Humana Festival); The Mountaintop, Our Town (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Her short film Ash Land was an official selection at The Pan African Film Festival and Brooklyn Film Festival. Cyndii was also in the queer edition of the sketch comedy show Who Made the Potato Salad? Training: BFA in Acting, Wright State University; Professional Training Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville. (she/her)

Louis Reyes McWilliams

(Jason) is an actor, writer, and teaching artist. He has previously appeared at Berkeley Rep in Macbeth. Off-Broadway credits include Coriolanus (The Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park), Anna Karenina: a riff (The Flea), and The War Boys (Columbia Stages). Regional credits include Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre), Teenage Dick (The Huntington, Woolly Mammoth, Pasadena Playhouse), Little Women (Dallas Theater Center, The Old Globe), No Cure (Playwrights' Center), A Christmas Carol and An Iliad (Trinity Rep), Unknown Soldier (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Eyre (Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble). His writing has been produced and workshopped at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Brown University/Trinity Rep, and Stanford University. He received his BA from Stanford University and his MFA from Brown University/Trinity Rep, where he was the 2019 Richard Kavanaugh Fellow. louismcwilliams.com

April Nixon

(Clyde), Olivier/Adelco/Ovation Award nominee, is honored to be a part of Clyde's! April has appeared in many shows from Broadway, national tours, TV, and regionals, such as Damn Yankees (Lola/opp Jerry Lewis); The Dancer's Life (opp Chita Rivera); Smokey Joe's Café; 9 to 5; Fosse; The Wiz; Cats; Tommy; Mamma Mia; Sistas; Purlie; Crowns; Sweet Charity; Caroline, or Change; and Dreamgirls, to name a few. April has appeared on Law & Order SVU and CI, The Dave Chappelle Show, The Wire, Malcom X, Man on the Moon, and upcoming Netflix movie The Perfect Find (opp Gabrielle Union) and Two Degrees (opp Carl Gilliard, Vanessa A. Williams, Miguel Nunez, and Tico Wells). April has also had the pleasure of working alongside directors Anna Deavere Smith, Spike Lee, Regina Taylor, Gwen Verdon, Randy Skinner, Walter Bobbie, Sheldon Epps, Jack O' Brien, Jerry Zaks, Des McAnuff, Jeff Calhoun, Graciela Daniel, Ann Reinking, George Faison, Michael Peters, and just finished a tour of Yemandja opp Grammy winner Anjelique Kidjo! April was also the producer of Two Lost Worlds The Musical starring Nicole Scherzinger! Stay tuned for April's new web series "BlackStageStories & FindingMyLola's" on YouTube! Follow April on social media at IG: maggiehunter51; Facebook: April L Nixon; Twitter: @aprilnixon45. April is a proud member of Actors' Equity and SAG/AFTRA! Love to my daughter, Samaria Pagge!

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