Fetch Clay, Make Man: A Play

Will Powers’s play Fetch Clay, Make Man examines the relationship between actor Stephin Fetchit and boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Set on the eve of the Cassius Clay–Sonny Liston rematch, and based on the friendship between the actor Stepin Fetchit and Clay—soon to become Muhammad Ali—Fetch Clay, Make Man explores how each handled a life in the public eye as black men in their respective eras—Hollywood in the 1920s, where a black actor’s career depended on playing caricatures, and the mid-1960s, after the assassination of Malcolm X.

With “incisive characterizations, crackling dialogue and generous doses of dark humor” (Hollywood Reporter), Fetch Clay, Make Man audaciously recreates this improbable friendship and, through the relationship, digs to the heart of race relations during the highly charged days of 1960s America.

“Throws plenty of verbal punches.” —New York Times

“Delivers a potent and satisfying wallop.” —NY Newsday