CLAY

Matt Sax in CLAY

CLAY is a one-man hip-hop musical written and performed by Matt Sax.  It is a story about a boy named Clifford whose mother kills herself and whose father finds another woman who Clifford gradually comes to have an affair with. He finally escapes the torments of his own home and finds a mentor in the back of a bookstore, Sir John, a man of words, a poetry slam. He teaches him how to use words, and how to express himself.  In one of the funniest scenes of the show, Sir John finds Clifford to be replicating the usual themes of rap songs rather than saying what’s really on his mind. “You ever met a prostitute before?” he asks after Clifford has ended a song.  “Um, no.”
Hip-hop helps Clifford to come out of his shell and express himself. The scenes in which Sir John transforms Cliff from a quiet teenager into a proud rapper are the show’s funniest and touching moments. His mentor keeps his hymn “It only comes out truthful if it comes from a truthful place.” Sir John makes out of Clifford a hip-hop star, Clay. Clifford soon discovers he cannot escape his past. Even when he makes rhymes, his past haunts him.  Even when he is free styling, he reveals “I’m in love with my…. stepmother.” The hip-hop musical encouraged everyone to listen, “Come inside/ open up your ears wide … To the beat ya’ll.” This entertaining production may even win over older folks who usually take hip-hop to mean there are gangsters in town.
I think the performance was very well done. Even though there were some blurts of inappropriate, I think it fit into the context.  Hip-hop became a type of genre in which many artists use words inappropriately, give words new meanings, and overuse words and phrases. The switch between Clifford and Sir John was fantastic. When becoming Sir John, the hood went on Sax’s head, and when going back to Clifford the hood went off. It amazes me how one man could act out so many different characters. He was Clifford, his mother, his father, his stepmother, and Sir John. Matt Sax did not lose control of his characters, not once. He gives each character a gesture which is strictly their own-a cigarette for Nancy, tucking hair back for stepmother Jackie, and the face-hiding hoodie for Sir John.
The stage set was very simple, for a bookstore there were piles of book covering up the entire back stage.  For every other setting, there was nothing but a chair on occasion. This was fine, because the performance did not require any elaborate stage designs. If there had been more objects on the stage, it would take the attention away from the performer. For an emerging artist, this show was a wonderful creation that required a lot of effort and it deserves applaud.