Theatre Program to present Lynn Nottage Comedy 'Clyde’s'

A woman holds a red book and gestures with a pen to a taller man facing her as the two rehearse for a play.

Dalyce Uribe, left, and Drew Sherman rehearse for "Clyde's." (Photo by Becca Cruz)

ALBANY, N.Y. (Nov. 7, 2023) — The Theatre Program of UAlbany’s Department of Music and Theatre will present the play Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage Nov. 15-19 at the Performing Arts Center on the Uptown Campus. The work is directed by Jean-Remy Monnay, founder and artistic director of the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York, who returns to UAlbany after directing August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson last season.

A group of five student actors wearing aprons — The cast of "Clyde's." (Photo by Becca Cruz)

Clyde’s is set in a truck-stop sandwich shop in Berks County, Pennsylvania, that offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at reclaiming their lives. Even as the shop’s tough-as-nails owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the crew of line cooks is given a sense of purpose and permission to dream through their shared quest to create the perfect sandwich.

Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, also wrote the plays Ruined and Intimate Apparel, the latter of which was produced by the UAlbany Theatre Program in 2019. Clyde’s is a comedic follow-up to her play Sweat, which also takes place in Berks County. Nottage decided to set her play there after learning that the city of Reading was the poorest city of its size in America in 2017. Capital Repertory Theatre will perform the drama Sweat in March.

“Clyde’s is a play about people trapped in a liminal space. It is also about community, healing, creativity, mindfulness and forgiveness,” Nottage said in an interview with The New York Times. “It is about the process of resurrecting one’s spirit and finding grace in the simple business of living.”

Monnay said he is “on a mission to direct all of Lynn Nottage’s plays. "Clyde’s is so far my third one ... I just love her writing and what she writes about. She focuses on social injustice, working class people; specifically working-class BIPOC people and particularly Black people.”

About working at UAlbany again, Monnay says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to be back at UAlbany to direct. It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience working with the design and creative team, and with some talented and amazing students.”

Clyde’s premiered on Broadway in 2021 in a production that starred Uzo Aduba. Last year, it became the most produced play in the United States, according to American Theatre magazine. This is its first Capital Region production.

There will be six public performances at the Performing Arts Center: at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15 and Thursday, Nov. 16; 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17; 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18; and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19. For more information and tickets visit the Performing Arts Center website.

Next up in the Theatre Program’s season will be Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew directed by Ryan Garbayo, UAlbany’s visiting assistant professor of acting, and the Fresh Acts festival of new plays which are written and directed by students.