Photo via Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's ‘Clyde's’
A cast of characters passionately discuss the possibility of a perfect sandwich. It would need to be a precise combination of different ingredients placed in just the right way and prepared just perfectly. It would need to be a strikingly clear articulation of something deep within the person creating it. It’s the perfect sandwich that rests at the center of Clyde’s, a comedic drama that’s being staged by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre this month.
Dimonte Henning directs and ensemble of actors playing who are being given a chance to turn their lives around. Each one of them has a different story. Each one of them delivers that story in the course of 100 minutes without intermission on an elegantly designed Stephen Hudson-Mairet set. It's a kitchen. The entire thing takes place in a strikingly realistic restaurant kitchen. The audience watches as high-end sandwiches are made for truckers.
Lachrisa Grandberry is a stylishly sinister figure as the owner of the establishment: a tough and merciless boss who demands respect. Bryant Bentley makes a noble appearance onstage as sort of a high priest of sandwich making who is fairly worshipped by the rest of the people in the kitchen. N'Jameh Camara has a gorgeous sense of power and attitude as kitchen employee Letitia. Heartbreaking moments of vulnerability shine through Camara’s performance as the events of the drama unfold. Justin Huen lends a deeply empathic energy to the stage in the role of Raphael, a sous-chef who has deep feelings for Letitia. Nate Press rounds-out the cast in the role of the new guy Jason. He’s just trying to get along. Press places a quiet, charismatic strength lurking beneath Jason’s facial tattoos that amplifies a sense of mystery about the drama. It’s a delicious concept. It’s a fun dynamic. It’s a trip to the theater to watch an existentially powerful kitchen at work under the oppressive stresses of daily life at the bottom on the way back up.
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Milwaukee Chamber Theater’s production of Clyde’s runs Nov. 8 - 24 at Broadway Theater Center Studio Theatre. For more information, visit milwaukeechambertheatre.org/clydes.
