Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...I reviewed "Clyde's" when the show appeared on Broadway last season. The production that has landed this fall at the Goodman Theatre is the same show, albeit with some cast changes. Takeshi Kata's witty physical set, which is filled with tricks and surprises, is here from New York. In essence, you are buying tickets to a small-scale national tour (the show next moves to the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles)."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Lynn Nottage’s latest work, now playing at the Goodman Theatre, follows a modest yet popular truck-stop diner run by a colorful staff of formerly incarcerated folks and their practically demonic boss and restaurant namesake, Clyde."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...As directed by longtime Nottage collaborator Kate Whoriskey, this show is a palate-cleansing look at the working class that doesn’t treat them purely as victims or helpless cogs in the wheel. In doing so, it trades high-stakes plot development in favor of slice-of-life character study. A glowing review in a local paper seems to offer some Mystic Pizza possibilities for Clyde’s to go upscale, but that notion is shot down by the lady who owns the place (and apparently owes money to some rather dangerous types that we never meet)."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage is experiencing something playwrights seldom encounter. She had a great run with her plays on Broadway, with several of her plays being featured at the same time and receiving rave reviews. One of those Broadway plays is Clyde's, which is now at the Goodman Theatre, and I dare to say it's one of the most stimulating and eye-catching plays to hit Chicago theaters."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...What is a sandwich? It is magical. It is two slices of bread that hold together all the dreams that its creator has. This is a part of the message in Lynn Nottage’s “Clyde’s” now on the stage of The Goodman Theatre’s Albert Stage. “Clyde’s” is a truck stop along the road where its owner Clyde ( played to perfection by Danielle Davis*) hires ex-convicts and ex-druggies to man her kitchen and create the sandwiches that people come in for. These workers are the key to the operation of the diner but are never given the respect that they should because of their background."
WTTW - Somewhat Recommended
"...There are moments of both high comedy and sadness in this play that has been directed by Kate Whoriskey, Nottage’s frequent collaborator. But while there are some easily engaging scenes, and notably fine acting, Whoriskey’s overall direction is just far too relentlessly shrill. In addition, the audibility at many points in the production is spotty — a problem that also has marred other recent Goodman productions."
Buzznews.net - Recommended
"...So quickly after the pandemic did we forget about the “heroes” in service industry roles. “Clyde’s” reminds us to approach each other with respect despite background, job title or income. Nottage elevates the everyday lives of those working the hardest, and at the lowest rungs. The play also evokes a sense of gratitude for employment some would find off-putting. By having her characters dream of making the perfect sandwich, she’s encouraging all of us to keep dreaming of better life while appreciating the good right in front of us."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...Playwright Lynn Nottage has penned a helluva comedy! Four ex-cons have struggled to find work after their incarceration. They each have landed a job at Clyde’s, a diner on the Interstate. The owner, Clyde, is an ex-felon and a ball-buster. The premise is original. The characters are unique. The dialogue is razor-sharp. And the underlying messaging of second chances, self-forgiveness and integrity puts meat on the (funny) bones. On the surface, Nottage’s play is tasty chunks of hilarity. A second bite reveals sweet and savory layers intricately mingled together for unexpected sustenance."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Clyde’s is a truck stop diner somewhere on the highway. We meet and learn the skills and stories of the four prep cooks, all of whom are ex-convicts, trying to get a new start. Clyde, the owner, is an ex-con too. Her costumes add to her story: she wears skin-tight/don’t-fuck-with-me dresses or tight leather pants and doesn’t have a kind word for anyone. Danielle Davis, the understudy who took over the part on opening night, does a smashing job as Clyde."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Director Kate Whoriskey, who directed the 2019 Broadway production of Clyde's, is at the helm here as well. Her deft comic touch helps create a comfortable and warm environment despite her main character's explosive temper and amplifies the humor of Nottage's script. (For a playwright not known for humor, Nottage here is incandescent.) Whoriskey and her production team also do a wonderful job of playing-and not overplaying-the surrealist conceit here that this greasy spoon is a kind of metaphorical purgatory for all of its denizens. Nottage's script includes frequent references to Clyde as a "demon" or a "devil," as well as two moments when she literally conjures fires in the kitchen; the intent couldn't be more clear. (Costume designer Jennifer Moeller gets in on the fun as well, dressing Clyde in what seems to be an endless series of skin-tight, flamboyant outfits that culminate with a red one. All she is missing are horns and a tail.)"
MaraTapp.org - Highly Recommended
"...Watching these four actors move around the realistic kitchen set with speed and care is like watching a well-choreographed dance. The humor is fast and wicked but Nottage's play, snappily directed by Kate Whoriskey, offers more than wit and belly laughs. So many plays, novels and other art try to show us the good in criminals but fall into cliches or fail in other ways. Clyde's soars here with its five vastly different characters whose stories about what landed them in jail offer poignant individualized portraits. This is a wicked good time with a heart and soul that will persuade you of the significance of sandwiches even as it makes you think about the goodness of people who spent time in prison. Don't miss it!"
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Directed by Kate Whoriskey, Clyde’s is fast-paced and engaging. The story takes a moment to highlight each characters’ past – allowing the audience a window into their backstory and a reason to lean in and hope for their success. As much as the story takes some dark twists and turns, the writing is also saturated with comedy, allowing for much needed moments of release, in this writer’s opinion."
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...CLYDE'S has terrific pacing, switching from uproarious moments of humor to more introspective ones as the characters reveal more of their backstories. Tellingly, Clyde herself reveals the least about her background, while Montrellous wears his heart on his sleeve. This contrast-and the explicit reference to the play as "liminal space"-sets up a Freudian dynamic within the script."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Lynn Nottage sets “Clyde’s,” her poignant, ninety-minute, laugh-out-loud funny play, in a grimy truck-stop diner somewhere near Reading, Pennsylvania. Nottage describes it in the script as a “strange liminal space populated by folx down on their luck and looking for a second chance in life.” The action opens just as Montrellous, a wizard at making tasty sandwiches with novel ingredients, finishes telling a story to Clyde, the sturdy, sour diner owner who never gives her workers credit for a good idea or job well done."
