Few playwrights explore the American working class as authentically as Lynn Nottage. A follow up to her factory worker play Sweat, Clyde’s is set in the kitchen of a Pennsylvania truck stop diner staffed entirely by ex-convicts – “We’re a bunch of felons who make sandwiches”.
The motley crew labour under the eye of the diner’s irascible, bullying owner Clyde (Gbemisola Ikumelo). Their harsh lives are lightened by the shaman-like presence of ‘Monty’ Montrellous (Giles Terera) who encourages them to achieve their personal goal of the perfect sandwich.
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Lynette Lynton’s production rarely stops moving as real sandwiches are built on kitchen tables with the speed and gesture of dance. Searingly funny, it also has splinters of menace and moments of transcendent calm.
Among the side orders is a hesitant romance between single mother Letitia (Ronke Adekoluejo) and former drug addict Rafael (Sebastian Orozco).
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Virtually plotless, the interplay of clearly defined individuals, including chippy, tattooed Jason (Patrick Gibson), is utterly compelling. Assisted by terrific sound design and lighting – sandwiches glow like religious icons – Nottage’s tough but tasty dialogue is delivered machine-gun fast by a cast at the top of their game. It gave me a hungry heart.
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