You never what you’re going to do when you meet the devil at the crossroads. Offer him a sandwich maybe? But does the perfect sandwich exist? Can it be created? A spicy egg salad with avocado-mayo and Greek-yogurt, with a garlic-zaatar aioli, fresh crisp romaine lettuce, sharp and pungent Manchego cheese, the ripest, firmest tomato, and fresh basil leaves on a toasted thyme and olive ciabatta. With a fresh parsley garnish on top. Pickle on the side. Would it pass muster? Or would it merely awaken another longing deep within? A longing to be seen or to be significant? A longing to be forgiven or to contribute in some meaningful way? That might be exactly what you find between the slices of theatrical bread as the Maryland Ensemble Theatre concludes their 27th main-stage season with Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s. An evocative and gripping story, not without its humors or its harrowing moments, directed by Rikki Howie Lacewell, that dares to examine what life is like for the recently un-incarcerated, back out in the world just trying to rejoin society and atone for their mistakes.
If you’ve never seen a Lynn Nottage play, you’re in for an emotional treat. Nottage’s work presents powerful messages without slamming them in your face in a preachy-soapbox style. She tells compelling stories, many of which are all too relatable; all of which are deeply fomented with heart and effervescent soul, earnest humanity, and slick humor that does keep the balance between the heavier topics into which she delves. Director Rikki Howie Lacewell manages to keep the balance between the interactions of the characters on an even keel— letting the humor soar, the heavier gravitational pulling moments weigh you down, and the more Zen moments mellow you out and keep you focused. Stage Manager Shayden Jamison encourages and assists with this overall perfect pacing to the show, in addition to strong balance of emotional expressions, by keeping the scenes moving. Scene-changes can be death to a show if they’re executed poorly or linger too long. And the village of the production team for the MET’s Clyde’s has that well in hand. Lacewell keeps the pacing, Jamison assists, Lighting Designer Shana Joslyn provides color-drops so we never go to a full blackout, allowing the actors to stay on stage and transition naturally from one scene to the next, and Sound Designer Tom Majarov fills out these moments between scenes with appropriate musical interludes that match the tone of either the concluding scene or the one about to start. The musical selections that Majarov uses are as appropriate as the lighting that Joslyn provides. The harsh red lighting at the show’s conclusion is particularly effective.
What’s utterly sublime is the work provided by Scenic Designer David DiFalco and Properties Designer Lori Boyd. The MET’s main stage transforms into a decrepit and none-too-sanitary looking back-kitchen of this greasy spoon sandwich shop. DiFalco and Boyd have created such a visual masterpiece you can practically smell the grease from the fryer (you can’t, but thanks to Majarov’s sound effects, you can hear it sizzle!) The walls have crusty-looking pipework, complete with dripping rust-stains painted into place, and the overall spatial setup of the prep stations, the counter-top for order-ups, the big door for the walk-in fridge— which comes complete with its own internal glowing light (shoutout again to Joslyn’s lighting work) it’s a visually striking set. And Boyd has got everything you can think of from sauce bottles to a multi-gallon drum of pickle-relish. The sandwiches look delicious (and are practical; MET goes all in whenever there’s eating to be done in a show), the attention to detail between Boyd and DiFalco is very impressive and you get the feel that you’ve been in that grody kitchen before; it’s a weird but welcoming type of nostalgia that they’ve built into the set.
While the show doesn’t have dramatic sweeps of clothing, because for the most part the four characters who aren’t Clyde are seen in pretty much the same outfits, Costume Designer Karsen Green comes up with some pretty impressive togs for the titular character. Particularly that disco-ball reflective affair that she wears in the final scene as it’s eye-catching and rather against her personality…Clyde is more of a loose-canon-unexploded-ammo type rather than a sparkly-radiant-fountain show. Though much like a firework, you’d do best to experience Clyde from a distance as she’s likely to burn you to the ground if you get to close. Green also puts some colorful efforts into the very peaceful outfits that Montrellous wears; it’s a smooth contrast between the very calming effect the Montrellous character has on the other staff versus the bombastic and terrorizing effect that Clyde has on them.
The show itself is cleverly crafted; all Lynn Nottage plays are. And if you’ve seen her play Sweat, you might be in for a gut-punch as the play draws a little closer to its conclusion. Rikki Lacewell Howard nurtures the five characters on stage, encouraging the five performers to gel— well four of them gel as best they can with one another after some rocky hiccups along the way, and then they react like oil and water on fire when it comes to engaging with Clyde herself.
You get genuine relationship dynamics between all of the characters and while they all hold their own individually against the script and against each other, there are moments when the actress playing Letitia (Gifty Amponsem) feels a half-step behind the others. Though don’t be mistaken, when it comes to delivering attitude and ferocity, particularly when first riling against the Jason character, Amponsem delivers like a blast of fiery sriracha sauce that’s been soaked in ghost-pepper oil overnight. And she delivers a heartfelt confession about why she was incarcerated, which ends with a zippy, zinger chuckle-worthy moment as she balances that heavy expression of pathos with something a little humorous. Amponsem’s facial expressions, particularly when Rafael is squeezing all up on her are wild and she has powerful body language, particularly when standing up to Clyde.
There are some mellow, groovy, Zen sensei vibes rolling out of the Montrellous (Ray Hatch) character and you just feel at ease whenever he slips in and out of the scenes. Sandwich Master, Good-Food Guru, take your pick, everything he says and does has a simplicity and a patience to it that just keeps the tensions of the show as a whole balanced against the spirituality that burbles delicately through each scene. And this isn’t holy-roller-religious sentiment, but that interconnectivity of the human race, how everyone makes mistakes, and for some the price paid is greater. Hatch uses gentle tones in his voice, regardless of which emotions he’s speaking with and it services the intention behind the character extremely well. And you get a total gut-punch when he finally gets around to telling you why he did time on the inside. You’ll also laugh your tail off when Hatch throttles his character up against the service window and bellows at the top of his lungs, “I will not destroy the integrity of the sandwich!” It’s wild.
Nadia Palacios is giving a mercurial roller coaster of experiences in the role of Rafael. Spitfire like the grill the character spends a lot of time scraping, yet sensitive and sincere; the combination comes together like a toasty grilled cheese sandwich with bacon under Palacios’ skilled stage presence and overall mindfulness. You get some ripe zingers and true moments of comedy from Palacios and equally devastating moments— particularly ‘the morning after’ that one scene. Sean Besecker, as the stoic Jason, is another stage force to be reckoned with. And while there are tensions a plenty built up with the character, there’s a thunderous ferocity that dissolves and crumbles when the raw humanity of the character is allowed to pour through. This happens when Besecker gets to confessing what happened to his character and how he ended up ‘doing time’. He’s got a tenacity that informs every move he makes in the kitchen, particularly when he tries to demonstrate that he’s merely there to work and keep his head down.
The foursome of Besecker, Palacios, Amponsem, and Hatch form this unifying bond as the play moves forward, which really makes itself felt in the penultimate scene where they have exchanges with Clyde. The titular character, played by Rona Mensah with intensely bombastic exuberance that hits hard and smacks harder, is something else entirely. Sassy, rude, cold, scary, and a whole lot of nothing-good in-between, Clyde is a representation of everything that’s wrong with the way the world handles former felons. And yet, Mensah manages to convince the audience that Clyde isn’t so bad and must have humanity buried somewhere deep inside her guarded existence. The squelcher of joy, the squasher of hopes, the barbaric entity that keeps these broken humans from feeling as if they can atone for their mistakes, doesn’t just live within Mensah’s Clyde, it thrives. Mensah can shift the entire tone of a scene with a mere entrance and when she barks, you feel your spine jolt a little. It’s quite intense. And there’s never a moment where you feel like she truly cares about those in her employ, though that’s largely the point. That striking solo moment at the show’s finale is both eerie and discomforting, even if it does earn a few chuckles from the audience.
Speak the truth, then let it go, cook your pain into the pan, as Lynn Nottage says. Her effecting and evocative work, in the hands of Rikki Howie Lacewell and the company at MET is as sublime as your favorite sandwich. Check them out through the middle of June 2025.
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission
Clyde’s plays through June 15th 2025 on the Main Stage of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in the Historic FSK Hotel building— 31 W. Patrick street in downtown historic Frederick, MD. For tickets call the box office at (301) 694-4744 or purchase them online.
