A Critical Companion to Lynn Nottage places this renowned, award-winning playwright's contribution to American theatre in scholarly context. Privacy Policy Tickets will be available at the door in the Squires Student Center beginning one hour prior to the performance. Reviews focused on the similarities between the portrayal of the industrial working class in a Rust Belt town, and that being a significant area and demographic in the 2016 United States presidential election. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Wil Johnson as Brucie and Stuart McQuarrie as Stan. Registered About 3 Years Ago. This contributed to the story of the play, as we continually see different scenes centered around drinking, especially after work or on stressful days. The characters in Sweat have spent decades of their lives thanklessly laboring in Reading Pennsylvania's local steel and textile mills amid poor working conditions, disrespectful management, and union disputes. Academic Policies 2023 . Saturday-Sunday February 25 & 26 at 2pm . Ruined. In light of these background economic trends, the play has a distinctive atmosphere of precarity. TRACEY: Stillyou werent born here, Berks. Who is the antagonist in the play Sweat by Lynn Nottage? Library At Donmar Warehouse, London, until 26 January. Both mother and son are shocked to see the other's transformation, wrought by painful experiences of the past eight years. Oscar shows her a flyer from the community center, written in Spanish, that mentions the openings and says nothing about needing to be in the union. Were a team, Jason says of himself and Chris, one of many sentiments that drives home the sacredness of close relationships for the plays struggling working-class laborers. Media Inquiries: 540-232-8574,jennykb@vt.edu, Alumni Relations:540-231-8364,robynes@vt.edu Tracey and Jessie grow bitter. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. American playwright lynn nottage won the 2017 pulitzer prize for drama for. He used to work at the plant but he was injured from a factory accident. "Sweat - Themes" eNotes Publishing Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Lynn Nottage, originally born and raised in Brooklyn, New York produced the award-winning play, Sweat. You got a problem, you tell me to my face. L ynn Nottage's Sweat is a play set in 2000 and 2008 that explores the tension in a group of friends in the midst of layoffs at a factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). [9] The Wall Street Journal review suggested the play "explained" Trump's win. Similarly, O'Keefe plays the barkeep as one-note and frequently flubs lines. [27], The play won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[2]. Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. She bitterly tells Oscar, the busboy at the bar, that she know[s] the floor as good as Cynthia does, and Jessie confirms that Cynthias promotion has pissed off a lot of people even though she earned it fairly. I also hope that they will understand the power of art and be more willing to engage with storytelling.. Scene 1 of Act 2 shows Jason and Chris returning to visit their mothers. Tell me about whats been going on. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Centered on the working class of Reading, Pennsylvania, Sweat tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. ', 'Come From Away', and 'Anastasia' Lead 2017 Drama Desk Award Nominations", "2017 Tony Award Nominations: 'The Great Comet' and 'Hello, Dolly!' publication online or last modification online. She doesnt really believe a floor worker will get the promotion, but when Cynthia talks about applying, Tracey decides to as well. [26], Sweat received three 2017 Tony Award nominations: Best Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for both Johanna Day and Michelle Wilson. Tracey's attempts to be alluring do not convince Stan, so they stop dancing as. Get professional help and free up your time for more important things. This specific scene supports how the usage of alcohol as a prop was continually utilized as a coping mechanism for many characters. Sweat. The creative elements of the production fare better, with Christopher Barreca's set taking audiences to the neighborhood bar so one can almost smell the stale beer on the floor. In the midst of all this, Cynthia, who is African-American, is up for a management role after years of hard work, but her promotion leads to frustration as both the company and her friends use her as a scapegoat. As mentioned earlier , when Nottage does use aspects of spectacle , it emphasizes these themes further , aspects like lighting . Similarly, when Cynthia earns a promotion from floor worker to Warehouse Supervisor at Olsteads, Tracey becomes spiteful and downright crueleven though she, too, applied for the job. Management is for them. Lynn Nottage. Word Count: 508. Sweat. . You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Struggling with distance learning? What statements does this play Sweatmake about racism and racial tension in the United States? But the sense of pride they've had over their work is being stripped away as the company begins to disassemble. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Based on extensive interviews with residents of the rustbelt town of Reading, Pennsylvania, it shows the anger and despair that helped fuel the election of Donald Trump. The last date is today's Nottage chose the Rust Belt town of Reading, Pennsylvania, because at the time of the plays composition, Reading was the poorest town of its size in the United States. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. You can order a custom paper by our expert writers. After the lockout goes forward, Cynthias friendship with Tracey completely disintegratesand when the play jumps forward from 2000 to 2008, its revealed that theyve never reconciled. To combat this constant strain and underappreciation, the members of Readings working-class community depend upon tight-knit relationships with one another as a means of stress relief, support, and fulfillment. The management/worker division begins to separate the friends, and racial tensions separate them further. [] Im not prejudice, I say, you are who you are, you know? CYNTHIA: Ive stood on that line, same line since I was nineteen. TRACEY: Well, I got you beat by two. Jump-start your essay with our outlining tool to make sure you have all the main points of your essay covered. Donmar Warehouse, LondonBased on interviews with residents of small-town Pennsylvania, Lynn Nottages play vividly describes the betrayal and resentments of striking female factory workers in an era of industrial decline. Tensions between friends come to a head when Olsteads begins making changes and floor workers face the threat (and, eventually, the reality) of a lockoutand the newly promoted Cynthia comes to be seen as a traitor. Well, my familys been here a long time. There are many scenarios that lead to this violent event, but I believe they are all significant in showing that, big or small, these racial attacks need to end. No matter if it was during Jessies birthday celebration, Traceys birthday celebration, or just a casual hangout at Stans bar. Beyond that, however, Mara doesn't project the character's humanity, which leads a character meant to propel the story to instead fall flat. The second is the date of -Graham S. Below you will find the important quotes in, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Complete your free account to request a guide. Characters are saddened and enraged in the face of wage cuts, and conflicts erupt between them as they struggle to navigate their lives in the face of diminishing opportunities. The bar itself is symbolic of the friendships that play out within it, as both the place and the relationships it facilitates are safe havens away from the stress of the outside world. Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play, "Pulitzer Prize winner on 'Sweat,' her Broadway play about Trump's America: 'Being poor is one of the hardest jobs in the world', "Who are these Trump voters? eNotes.com, Inc. Sweat is a 2015 play by American playwright Lynn Nottage. The Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts will present Lynn Nottages award-winning Sweat for eight performances, opening on Nov. 9 in Squires Studio Theatre. One of the major plot points in this ensemble driven piece is Cynthia's promotion to management at Olstead's factory. Sweat is a two-act play written by Lynn Nottage. Of the performances, Coleman and Hochman remarkably deviate from sullen and washed-out in their 2008 scenes, to rambunctious, youthful, and optimistic in 2000. 1 Mar. She is on and off with her husband, Brucie, who is addicted to drugs. Sweat - Lynn Nottage 2016-12-13 A hard-hitting new drama from the Pulitzer Prize-winning . The play opens in 2008, and we meet Jason and Chris as they individually speak to their parole officer, Evan. CYNTHIA: I didnt expect you to understand, babe. Martha Plimpton as Tracey and Clare Perkins as Cynthia suggest a lifetime of friendship, tragically sundered; Patrick Gibson and Osy Ikhile show the heavy prices paid by their respective offspring; and Stuart McQuarrie as the pacifying bartender and Leanne Best as a boozy dreamer reveal how everyone is blighted by a company towns decline. Nottage researched her work in Reading and while there, gathered material for her play Clyde's, now extended through March 12 at Arden Theatre Co. Oscar asks Tracey about job openings on the floor, and Tracey says he must have heard wrong because Olsteads is not hiring and you have to know someone to get in anyway. Not wanting to give up what theyve worked for, the floor workers vote against the deal and end up getting shut out. Superlatively acted Leanne Best, Martha Plimpton and Clare Perkins in Sweat at Donmar Warehouse, London. [8][12] The production began previews on Broadway at Studio 54 on March 4, 2017, before opening on March 26. Sweat switches between 2000 and 2008 as Lynn Nottage tells the story of a group of friends who work together on the factory floor. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme, The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Relationships, Status, and Resentment appears in each scene of. The 2008 sequences also shine a spotlight on Chris and Jason's mysterious crime without revealing that incident until the end, leaving the audience waiting for the other shoe to drop instead of being able to focus on the complex relationships Nottage builds and the reflection of America in civil strife. Tracey, who comes from a family of German craftsmen, is a militant unionist but bereft without employment. Though the play is brimming with these rich themes, the execution does not always succeed. [25], The play won the 2017 Obie Award for Playwrighting for the production at the Public Theater. Variety quotes the bartender, Stan, as warning the other characters that "You could wake up tomorrow and all your jobs are in Mexico", to which the characters respond with lethargy and disbelief. She . Sweat is preceded by an excerpt from Langston Hughess Let America Be America Again, a poem that critiques the false promise of the American Dream and encourages poor and working-class Americans (among other marginalized groups) to rise up and make America againessentially to redeem the oppression theyve faced and the opportunities theyve been cheated out of. They also work at the plant, although Chris talks about going to college. The employees work lives and decisions about organizing likewise affect their children. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine. When Cynthia is promoted, the difference of social status is directly introduced. date the date you are citing the material. The discrimination towards Oscar and others throughout the play stuck out to me because it is hard to see people who work so hard get torn down due to their heritage. He offers guidance that is bluntly, candidly phrased, but also empathetically considered. Eventually in 2017, winning the Pulitzer prize award for drama. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance [1] It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The second date is today's I dont think you get it, but if I walk away, Im giving up more than a job, Im giving up all that time I spent standing on line waiting for one damn opportunity. They built this town. [2] The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015; it was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Director Lisa Peterson uses television screens to document major world events that led to the collapse of the American factory system, such as the financial crisis and bailout of 2008 and the election of George W. Bush in 2000, so that the audience can travel back to a precarious time not very different from 2018. Complimentary and Deeply Discounted Shows. The New Yorker said the play was "the first theatrical landmark of the Trump era". If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sweat [TCG Edition] Good Book 0 paperback at the best online prices at eBay! All university community members and visitors will need to display a parking permit, use theParkMobile app,pay a fee, or pay using an hourly meter to park on the Blacksburg campus unless otherwise noted by signage. In one of the poorest cities in. Teachers and parents! Any subject. Chris finds Cynthia living in a small, rundown, messy apartment . My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Though they used to be best friends, Jason (Will Hochman) now has a face covered with white-supremacy tattoos, while Chris (Grantham Coleman) has returned from prison emotionally broken. The play thus shows how changes in statusbeing promoted at work, reaching a higher socioeconomic class, or pursuing higher educationcan create tension and resentment among people who are all struggling to make ends meet, driving a wedge between even the closest of friends. Print Word PDF. The action takes place in a fictional bar in Reading, Pennsylvania. Try it today! First and only job. When layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a fight to stay afloat. [1] The action takes place in a fictional bar[6] in Reading, Pennsylvania.[7]. [15] A five-star review of the production by Peter Mason in the Morning Star newspaper described Sweat as "a tension-filled drama with a turbulent, consuming plot and a cast of highly engaging characters who demand attention from the off," adding of the Donmar cast that "it would be difficult to imagine a better set of players to take on the difficult task of portraying such complex individuals". CHRIS: Dude, its just something I gotta do. Jason finds that Tracey has a significant pill addiction. TRACEY: You want us to feel sorry for you? I feel that its a common problem in our society to portray immigrants as needy and that they get special treatment for their race. Their decades-long friendship ends in a seemingly insurmountable grudge, a heartbreaking reality that drives home the pain, jealousy, and hostility that can come about when one friend feels left behind by another. eNotes.com date the date you are citing the material. Tracey and Jessie view Cynthia as a traitor. Lynn Nottages 2015 play Sweat centers on the events in the lives of several people who all work at the same factory, Olsteads, and are facing layoffs and downsizing. Im on your side, Cynthia tells them, but Tracey challenges her: Then act like it, she says. Last Updated on October 4, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Management wants to cut wages, and the union will have to vote to accept the concessions or go on strike. The play portrays a meeting between a parole officer and two ex-convicts, and three women who were childhood friends and had worked in the same factory. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Tracey and Jessie grow bitter as their job security is threatened and their wages cut, while their friend Cynthia receives a promotion. Less work. As a community already steeped in tradition and resistant to outsiders, this downturn causes Readings white working class to become downright hostile toward black and Latinx peopleeven individuals they once called friendsbecause they believe minorities are stealing their jobs away. The bartender is Stan, who used to work at the factory with them until he suffered an injury. Nottage addresses the theme of social status, specifically in how the characters lives and relationships are shaped based on job position, socio-economic class, and education. Seeing the effects of job loss and the economic struggle these people were facing first hand is what truly inspired her work for the play Sweat. Refine any search. 30 December 2016. Club members can see a different show every night of the week. The action takes place in a fictional bar in Reading, Pennsylvania. (including. As the play switches back to 2000, we hope to learn what happened between them. Directed by Kate Whoriskey (who also directed the earlier productions), the cast featured Carlo Alban (Oscar), James Colby (Stan), Khris Davis (Chris), Johanna Day (Tracey), John Earl Jelks (Brucie), Will Pullen (Jason), Miriam Shor (Jessie), Lance Coadie Williams (Evan), and Michelle Wilson (Cynthia). This in-person event will take place in BMCC's Theatre II.. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), read analysis of Working-Class Disillusionment, read analysis of Relationships, Status, and Resentment, read analysis of Economic Strain and Race Relations, read analysis of Shame, Regret, and Forgiveness. Lynn Nottage, as she showed in Intimate Apparel, which was about a seamstress in the 1900s, has the capacity to dramatise work. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In the scenes from 2000, before the young men get into trouble, Nottage sets much of the action in a fictional bar in the characters' working-class town of Reading, Pennsylvania, where people who. 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