Jasmine Case’s role in Clyde’s at Canadian Stage gives the dynamic performer plenty to chew on

Canadian Stage’s upcoming show Clyde’s may take place in middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania — but its sandwich shop setting is pure Toronto. 

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, Clyde’s follows the shop’s employees as they bicker, bond, and make some damn good sandwiches. Crucial to the story is the fact that each character has been formerly incarcerated. The titular Clyde, who owns the business, offers a steady job in a world that offers few opportunities to start life from scratch, even as she runs her establishment with a thousand-yard death stare and an iron fist.

“This play could literally take place right outside of the Bluma [Appel Theatre],” said Jasmine Case, a member of Clyde’s cast, in a video call. “Toronto is such a diverse place, filled with food and community.” Clyde’s is a fitting programming choice in a city renowned internationally for the huge breadth of its culinary scene — so much so that a 2022 Michelin Guide to Toronto inspired controversy due to a perceived lack of diversity. 

Case plays Letitia, a young woman in her 20s who works at Clyde’s to support herself and her child. “I feel like I’m just approaching characters from a place of honesty, even if they’re the opposite of me,” the actor explained. “‘Who is Jasmine, who is the character, and how can we meet in the middle? What is that little part of Jasmine in each character?’”

Clyde’s rehearsals with director Philip Akin hadn’t yet begun at the time of the interview, but Case had already identified some aspects of herself in Letitia.

“She’s a mother who has a child that deals with epilepsy,” said Case, “and I grew up with epilepsy. I had a grand mal seizure as a kid. So I have a weird understanding of her relationship to her child.”

Case said that she also identifies with Letitia’s determination. “In my life, I’ve been a real fighter,” she shared. “I [completed an undergraduate degree] from 2016 to 2020 [at Brock University], in the hot midst of the Black Lives Matter movement. I was the only Black student in my year in the acting-production program, and there was only one other person of colour.”

After graduating Brock, Case attended the National Theatre School of Canada (NTS) in Montreal, where she completed a certificate in acting in 2023. Since then, she’s been on a steady upward trajectory in the Toronto theatre scene. In 2024, she won her first Dora Award for her performance as Phoebe, the enslaved mute woman at the centre of Kanika Ambrose’s Truth, produced by Young People’s Theatre. The next year, she and her castmates in Crow’s and Obsidian Theatre’s co-production of Flex scored a Dora for outstanding ensemble performance.

“It’s a privilege as an actor to [be part of] an ensemble,” said Case. “With Clyde’s, [the whole play takes place] in the kitchen. A few of us make sandwiches [during the show] that we eat and compare. I’m on the prep side of the kitchen, and so I know I’m going to be actually chopping vegetables and making food.”

The production reunites Case with castmate Sophia Walker, who plays Clyde. Though they first performed together in Flex, their rapport goes back to when Case was still in theatre school.

“I did a two-week intensive at Stratford when I was at Brock, and [Walker] came to my class,” explained Case. “I was that student who waited afterward and said, ‘Hi, Sophia, I’m sorry to bother you. Can I get your email?’ She and I have an email correspondence from seven years ago.

“Now she’s like an older sister or a cool cousin,” Case continued. “I’ve been seeing theatre since I was little. There are so many actors, specifically Black actors, who I’ve seen on stage for years. Now that I’m in [the industry], I think, ‘You know who I am?’ That still doesn’t compute in my brain. Jasmine 10 years ago would be on the floor at where I am currently.”

Case expressed excitement for the rehearsal process ahead — but also acknowledged that, when performances begin, she’d have to leave all her prep (kitchen and otherwise) behind. 

“At [NTS] I had a Shakespeare teacher, Tim Welham, [who says that] rehearsing is like packing a suitcase,” she explained. “You pack it with everything for your vacation: diarrhea medication, Gravol, every single thing you could possibly need. Then, you walk that suitcase to the edge of the stage, and you leave it.”

Case joked that, post-performance, she has a plan for the food she’ll be making onstage. 

“I want to save some of those sandwiches!” she laughed. “If you ever need one, just meet me backstage.”

Clyde’s runs from April 11 to 26 at the Bluma Appel Theatre. More information is available here.

Canadian Stage is an Intermission partner. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.

WRITTEN BY

Nathaniel Hanula-James

Nathaniel Hanula-James is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who has worked across Canada as a dramaturg, playwright, performer, and administrator.

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WRITTEN BY

Dahlia Katz

Dahlia Katz is a professional photographer who specializes in portraits, promotion, lifestyle, events, weddings, and the performing arts. She is also a director, dramaturg, and puppeteer.

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