Fetch Clay, Make Man
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Cititour.com Review
The unlikely friendship between Stepin Fetchit, the black Hollywood actor who found fame in the 1930s for his portrayal of lazy, shuffling workers onscreen, and legendary boxing champion Muhammad Ali provides the inspiration for Will Power’s “Fetch Clay, Make Man,” a powerful play of ideas now being given a dazzling production at New York Theatre Workshop under the direction of Tony Award winner Des McAnuff.
The play is set primarily in Ali’s dressing room in Lewiston, Maine in 1965, two days before Ali’s famed rematch with heavyweight Sonny Liston. Unbenknownst to his entourage, Ali (Ray Fisher) has summoned Fetchit (K. Todd Freeman), aka Lincoln Perry, to Lewiston to share his knowledge of Ali’s idol, the former boxing champion Jack Johnson. During his visit, however, the balance of power shifts frequently -- and often radically -- not only between these two men, but also Ali’s closest adviser, the volatile Brother Rashid (an often terrifying John Earl Jelks), and Ali’s wife, Sonji (the spectacular Nikki M. James), a former nightclub singer and good-time gal who quickly turns her back on her conversion to Islam, enraging her husband.
Much of the discussion during the two-hour piece concerns the burgeoning Islam movement that Ali (nee Cassius Clay) has recently joined. There are potent questions raised about the movement’s role in the murder of Malcolm X, Ali’s guilt in “turning his back” on his friend, and whether people like Rashid were simply using the Muslim religion for their own ends.
Ultimately, though, the work is most concerned with examining the role of the black man in America. As Fetchit/Perry points out he sees himself not as a disgrace to his race, but a trailblazer for all black actors in the ways he subverted and outsmarted the old studio system (personified by film mogul William Fox, played by the fine Richard Masur, in a series of enlightening flashbacks.) Meanwhile, Ali strives not just to be “the greatest,” but to be taken seriously in every aspect of his life – even when his own showboating style and flamboyance works against his best intentions.
McAnuff stages the piece simply but smartly on Riccardo Hernardez’s boxing-ring-like set, aided by Peter Negrini’s evocative projections, Paul Tazewell’s spot-on-costumes (including a few sensational ensembles for James), and Darron L. West’s excellent sound design. But his secret one-two-punch are stage veteran Freeman, who delivers a richly layered portrait of Fetchit, and Fisher, a relative newcomer who expertly captures the inner and outer essence of the larger-than-life Ali.
It’s possible “Fetch Clay, Make Man” may have a further life in New York after this Off-Broadway run, but make sure to catch it now.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.nytw.org/fetch_clay_landing_page.asp
Cast
K. Todd Freeman, Anthony Gaskins, Nikki M James, John Earl Jelks, Sekou Laidlow, Richard Masur
Open/Close Dates
Opening 8/23/2013
Closing 10/13/2013
Box Office
212-279-4200
Theatre Info
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
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