Shes is upset that Cynthia seems to be ignoring her and sucking up to management. You go into buildings, the walls are covered over with sheetrock, the wood painted gray, or some ungodly color, and it just makes me sad. View more posts. Mary Mara, left, as Tracey, and Portia as Cynthia in "Sweat," Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama at the Mark Taper Forum about a factory town in Pennsylvania. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley - P.O. The issues this drama raises painfully timely ones, I hardly need add surface organically from the circumstances. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. He apparently did so due to the stress of his failed marriage, debt, and rumors of cutbacks at Olsteads Steel Tubing (the mill where Tracey, Cynthia, and Jessie also work). She is upset that her friend. But they are passages that turn those delivering these monologues into social case studies, a status that the bluntly drawn performances do not always combat. In the bar, Stan and Oscar stand by as Tracey, Chris, Jason, and Jessie angrily demand Cynthia to tell them whats going on. Sweat examines the changing lives of factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania, between the years of 2000 and 2008. Its a tragic story of everyday people struggling to pick up the pieces when their lives fall apart. Nottages characters were based on personal research and interviews she conducted in Reading throughout 2011. var addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e = 'auditions' + '@' + 'aeofberkeley' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e').innerHTML += ''+addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e+'<\/a>'; Cynthia receives the promotion, and her change in status generates tension between her and Tracey. (including. Olstead is a prick. The play opens in a Reading parole office in 2008, panning back and forth between Jason and Chris. tailored to your instructions. Aspirations to another life may be common among these people, but such hopes are widely resented when they show signs of becoming reality. With its large cast of precisely drawn characters most of whom, when not riled by fear about their dimming futures, are great company Sweat brims with the kind of ripe, richly imagined life associated with the work of the great August Wilson (a comparison I do not make lightly). Cynthia spends her birthday alone in the bar, where she confides in Stan how stressed and guilty she feels about locking her friends (and her own son) out of the plant. I hope I was able to introduce you to more monologue material! Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama THE STORY: Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, 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. Ms. Whoriskey and Ms. Nottage drew on interviews with residents of Reading, Pa., ranked among the poorest cities in America, as part of their research for the play. Im not prejudice, but thats how things are going these days. Buy new (amazon), new (dramatists play service) or used. Their steel mill, Olsteads, is making some changes and the blood, sweat and tears, not to mention the generations of loyalty these workers have shown, dont seem to amount to much. Undine Barnes Calles Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine 2 I come here from North Carolina at seven. Waking up, going to the factory, working all day, and coming home. On July 4, Chris and Jason run into Brucie at the bar, and they tell him that Olsteads moved three mills out of the factory over the holiday weekend. Time commitment: Up to 15 hours directed rehearsing (max 5 rehearsals), 4-8 . CYNTHIA: Ive stood on that line, same line since I was nineteen. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. Your computer should open a new tab with the monologue. A new box will appear. Chris eventually becomes angry as well, and he joins Jason in beating Oscar. That includes not only Reading, Pa., the steel town where the play is set, but also a beleaguered part of the United States in which jobs are under siege and identity is fraying. Sweat Summary. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Management is trying to cut wages and benefits, and despite Cynthias protestations and pleas on her friends behalf, she feels her concerns are being ignored. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Make sure to leave suggestions for other plays youd like to see on the blog and Ill see you at the next post! Ernestine Crump Crumbs from the Table of Joy 0 Start: Because mostly I feel rage. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. But members of the audience may find themselves getting a little moist with anxiety as this extraordinarily moving drama hurtles toward its conclusion with the awful inevitability of Greek tragedy. He thinks Jason and Chris should move on and get out of Reading. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Some of these, such as Traceys speech about the devaluing of manual labor, have a poignant lyricism. You could wake up tomorrow and all your jobs are in Mexico, whatever, its this NAFTA bullshit. 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. Hes an avuncular type who keeps the peace when necessary, with the help of his Dominican bar-back, Oscar (Carlo Albn). Review: As blue collar jobs leave a Pennsylvania town, Lynn Nottage's The scene switches to Evans parole meeting with Chris, a black man whos struggling to integrate back into society since his release because hes ashamed of being a felon and consumed with remorse over what he did. Tracey's rude behavior toward Cynthia is driving a wedge in their decades-long friendship. He encourages both men to let go of their shame and self-blame and to meet up with each other to talk. CYNTHIA: I didnt expect you to understand, babe. In April, Cynthia has gotten the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor, and she and her friends celebrate at the bar. It aint his fault. Scene 3. Want new monologue material three days a week? If he was here I wouldnt stop you. Since the twenties, okay? They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. Three exemplary charactersTracey, Cynthia, and Jessieare all working class . Writing that cuts this close to the bone draws out the best in actors. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Review: 'Sweat' Imagines the Local Bar as a Caldron Oscar responds that he doesnt owe anything to people like Cynthia, Tracey, and Jessie because they never acknowledge his humanity: If they dont see me, I dont need to see them" (92). In 2000, Tracey and her best friends, Cynthia and Jessie, have worked at Olstead's Steel Tubing in Reading, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. But to get to the heart of the matter: Sweat opens with scenes set in 2008, depicting a parole officer (Tyrone Wilson) in meetings with two ex-convicts, imprisoned for their involvement in the same crime, who have come through the system with deeply divergent results. Jason has come to beg Tracey for money, but shes hostile and unwelcoming. CHRIS: Cmon. Anyone can read what you share. In fact Id hold him down for you to give him a proper beating, but Oscarhes another story. CYNTHIA: Why the hell not? They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. TRACEY: [] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. Clearly, Tracey is acting out because she feels jealous of Cynthia and left behind by one of her oldest friends. %PDF-1.4 % (Both Chris and Jason, not incidentally, also work at the plant, although Chris has higher aspirations.) Were a team, you cant leave!! The play also examines the ways working class Americans are often pitted against one another in their struggles for a better life. Right? Brucie, whose union has been locked out of the citys other plant for two months after the union balked at draconian pay cuts, has been hitting something harder than the bottle. Join the StageAgent community ASHLAND, Ore. Sweat, the title of Lynn Nottages scorching new play, refers to the hard labor that its characters have put in for decades, only to find their modest livelihoods threatened by the evaporation of manufacturing jobs in America. He advises them to take any concessions that are offered to prevent a lockout from happening. Through their barroom conversation, the women reveal that Jason has no future plans beyond factory work, and Chris has been accepted to college. Not us. * Live TV from. Forget all that. After some urging from Cynthia, Tracey also agrees to apply (albeit with some misgivings). With the hard-drinking Jessie (Alison Wright), these women form a triumvirate that gathers regularly at their hangout to celebrate one anothers birthdays and swap workplace gossip and grievances. Along with the rage, despair and violence, theres humor and abundant humanitya cautionary tale of what happens when you dont know how to resist. Time Out NY. Though it takes place in 2000 and 2008, and one of its characters swears he will never vote again, Sweat is the first work from a major American playwright to summon, with empathy and without judgment, the nationwide anxiety that helped put Donald J. Trump in the White House. passionate and necessarya masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer usSWEAT communicates its points with minimal fuss and maximum grit. Hugging. Let it be enough to say that each actor locates the rich humanity in his or her character, and transmits it to the audience with deceptive ease. Keenly observed and often surprisingly funnybut ultimately heartbreakingthe work traces the roots of a tragedy with both forensic psychological detail and embracing compassion. After a long work shift at Olsteads mill, three middle-aged female friendsan African American woman named Tracey, an Italian American woman named Jessie, and a German American woman named Cynthiahang out at Stans bar. The shriveled, drug-addled figure of Cynthias estranged husband, Brucie (John Earl Jelks), looms as a possible prophecy of everyone elses fate. JASON: [] But seriously, man, why didnt you tell me? A couple of weeks later, Jessie waits alone at the barTracey, Cynthia, Jason, and Chris are all late to her birthday celebration. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. PDF Sweat play by lynn nottage pdf (The unobtrusively on-target set is by John Lee Beatty, with costumes in the same vein by Jennifer Moeller.). There is little doubt that when the rage festering among them fully erupts, no one will emerge unscarred. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. 0 Dramatists Play Service, Inc. With the use of distinct dialog, actions, and belief structures for each of the characters, the characters (on paper and on stage) stand out as unique individuals that the audience can identify with. Now, the plant is bringing in Mexican immigrants as temporary laborers. For that reason alone, the arrival on Broadway of Sweat, which originated at the fertile Oregon Shakespeare Festival and was previously staged in New York at the Public Theater, warrants serious applause. Huh? We ask that you provide your own costumes (contemporary tee shirts, baseball caps, bandannas), makeup, and props (beer and shot glasses, cigarettes, keys). hbbd``b`Y $+A H0@caqA,7 $&$$1&F: O ! Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Chris and Jason are clearly apologetic but cant yet bring themselves to verbalize what theyre thinking. Since the twenties, okay? It begins in 2008 in scenes that switch between a parole officers interrogations of two young men recently released from prison and flashes back to 2000, to follow the road to the crime for which they were incarcerated. Tracey bitterly wonders if Cynthia received the promotion because she is Black. This poignant play takes a look at the de-industrial revolution through the lens of a history play, but also delves into the issues of today: the economy, immigration, race-relations in America, and politics. For rehearsals and performances youll need a computer, a stable internet connection (at least 3 MBS upload speed), and a quiet performance space, preferably without windows. Generations dictated by the factory floor and the whims of American capitalism: A scene from Sweat, Lynn Nottages new drama, in a production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Cynthias ex-husband Brucie warns his son, Chris, about his own struggles with the financial and emotional toll of another ongoing strike. Esther Intimate Apparel 3 Most of the plays action takes place in a local bar run by Stana former factory worker who was chronically disabled when he injured his leg in a machineand Oscar, a young Colombian American man who helps with stocking and cleaning. I dont know why. There is a rich eloquence in his inarticulateness that this well-spoken play could use more of. New York, NY 10016 Oscar plays a handheld video game behind the bar. CYNTHIA: [] let me tell you something, once he started messing with that dope, I dont recognize the man. START: Well. And this thoughtful, careful play only seldom acquires the distance-erasing passion of Ms. Nottages Ruined, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner about female casualties of the Congolese civil war. The play is also set at a pivotal transitional time in American industry, when many longstanding factory jobs were outsourced to other countries (as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA).
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