A New Twist on an Old Story
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The set up is rather simple – one man, a small stage, a small audience. Even the theater, located between the huge luminescent attractions of 42nd street, is so small that it is difficult to find. Yet what happens in The Duke Theater night after night can only be described as grand. Adopting the unusual genre of a hip-hop musical, Clay is able to exhilarate its audiences with its dramatic lighting effects and thunderous music.
The storyline of Clay emphasizes the importance of listening – listening to the stories that the words of hip-hop song relate. However, it is the music of the play that guides the audience through the various emotional climaxes and troughs of the main character, Cliff. When he is angry, the music explodes into an array of violent harmonies and when he is confused, the music flows in an eerie melody of discordant fragments. The words merely relate what is happening on stage, but it is the music that tells the audience what meaning these events have.
Although it was spectacular, the music was only half of the lyrical elements that make the show a success. The other half is Matt Sax – the wonderful young actor who takes on the challenge of playing the extensive variety of characters present in Clay. His ability to adopt the personality quirks of each character as well as the range of different voices allow Sax to dominate the stage for the duration of the show. Although he is the only person on the stage, he is able to create an alternate presence for each of the characters. In addition, Sax’s ability to rap and perform for two hours straight is a testament to both his ability as an artist as well as his large reservoir of energy.
The lighting effects in the show further aid the music in conveying to the audience the emotions of the show’s characters. Lighting is used to highlight both significant emotional instances as well as plot events. Chaos is portrayed through the twirling beams of colorful light, while a gunshot is expressed through the envelopment of the audience in a bright white light.
The story of Clay is the classic story of a young man who responds to the emotional pressures cast upon him by his dysfunctional family by turning to art as a form of expression – in Cliff’s case, his medium is hip-hop music. However, in many ways, this show is innovative. Its format consists of the unusual genre of hip-hop musical, which is further complicated by the fact that this is a one-man show. It is this unique format that allows Matt Sax to create an impressive performance out of an otherwise, predictable story.
