Right? 308 qualified specialists online. 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. Jason and Chris meet one another at the local bar, where Oscar is now the manager. The four men uneasily wait for the next moment, together yet divided. Undine Barnes Calles Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine 2 I come here from North Carolina at seven. She is upset that her friend warns that peoples jobs could be outsourced to Mexico at any moment because of NAFTA. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville Economic Strain and Race Relations Theme in Sweat | LitCharts (The Nafta treaty is invoked with four-letter opprobrium.). 239 0 obj <> endobj (including. To access the monologues, click the highlighted link. She tells Oscar that Olsteads isnt for you.. 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. Ms. Nottages colloquial dialogue doesnt approach or even attempt his singing lyricism, but Jessie delivers a beautiful monologue about the life she might have led had she not, when still a teenager, started working in a factory. So were Jasons mother, Tracey (Johanna Day), and Chriss mother, Cynthia (Michelle Wilson). Cynthia tells Tracey and Stan about how she recently kicked out her estranged husband, Brucie, againhe's been abusing drugs ever since he was locked out of his job at a local textile mill. Now, the plant is bringing in Mexican immigrants as temporary laborers. CYNTHIA: Why the hell not? From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Upgrade to PRO I don't want this to be a big deal. But now, theres nothing on Penn. More trouble comes when rumors of layoffs begin swirling, and Cynthia finds herself caught between her duties as a manager and her sympathy with her friends in the union. If he was here I wouldnt stop you. (The unobtrusively on-target set is by John Lee Beatty, with costumes in the same vein by Jennifer Moeller.). Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. All is well, until economic turmoil hits. Lynn Nottage explains how a broken city gets a turn onstage in her play "Sweat.". After some urging from Cynthia, Tracey also agrees to apply (albeit with some misgivings). (LogOut/ Oscar aint getting rich off your misery. Sweat Act 2, Scenes 1-3 - eNotes.com You dont know what its been like to walk in my shoes. Cynthia says she plans to apply, hoping for better opportunities. Anyone can read what you share. -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Tracey appears in, is playing on a jukebox as a rowdy celebration winds down. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. JASON: [] All Im saying is that he needs to understand the price of that dinner hes putting on his table. SWEAT Broadway Reviews | Broadway World The flier advertises a much lower wage than Tracey makes, and it does not mention union requirements or benefits. It aint his fault. While they talk, Oscar comes into the bar to get his things from the back and say goodbye to Stan just as Tracey comes out of the bathroom. The play examines the intersecting stories of workers on strike, three female friends who work together in a plant, and the generational differences between these workers and their sons, Chris and Jason. However, Tracey is adamant that German immigrants like her own grandparents built the town. The play also examines the ways working class Americans are often pitted against one another in their struggles for a better life. STAN (Shouts): What the fuck do you want him to do? The issues this drama raises painfully timely ones, I hardly need add surface organically from the circumstances. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season Im not prejudice, but thats how things are going these days. Jason panics and goes to leave, but he stops when Stan enters to wipe down tables. Cynthia and Tracey worry that Jessies problem with alcohol could get her fired. Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, gives stellar examples of successful characterization. Tracey is a middle-aged white woman of German descent; she's Jason 's mother and Hank 's widow. Sweat Summary - eNotes.com 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. Meanwhile, Oscar goes to work at Olsteads as a scab employee, eager to make more money than he does at the bar. These middle class, unionized, steelworkers have made plans to save money, go on vacations and then retire with a nice, healthy pension, but when rumors start flying that the company is considering layoffs, and flyers are hung to recruit non-union Latino workers for less money, the war between community and capitalism begins, and tensions start destroying not only jobs, but also relationships. He thinks Jason and Chris should move on and get out of Reading. Cynthia understands, but she asks Tracey not to make things about race, and she promises to let everyone know if she hears anything about the rumored layoffs. Tracey bitterly wonders if Cynthia received the promotion because she is Black. CYNTHIA: That rumors been flying around for months. Tracey comes into the bar while Oscar is in the back, and she tells Stan about how lost and humiliated she feels without a job. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Thank you for checking out my post! Theatre lover and actor. They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. Stan commiserates with Bruciehe spent 28 years at Olsteads and is glad that his injury got him out of there. It is also striking how abruptly the scenes and action change. Sweat is a two-act play written by Lynn Nottage. hb```d`~1!Ru|G/Vgk`#k[-85?J.YI{fU4/xu.13bj78a$B3x+J%Rn-p]?ORZf4(sH#6Y. Sweat Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary Thus, the flier ominously suggests that the factory managers intend to lay-off their existing staff. Those traits are definitely on display in Sweat, which is directed by Kate Whoriskey and features a sturdy nine-member ensemble. The plot of Sweat shifts between the present year of 2008 and an extended flashback to the year 2000. STAN: Look. With its attentively-crafted, compassionate examinations of the displaced working class, Sweat exposes the human costs of late-stage American capitalism. As bars often are in old-fashioned and socially conscious dramas like Sweat, this one is a microcosm for a larger world. During this conversation, Jessie wakes up and become belligerent when Stan wont serve her another drink. Buy new (amazon), new (dramatists play service) or used. He encourages both men to let go of their shame and self-blame and to meet up with each other to talk. Forget all that. Want interviews with fellow actors? Review: Lynn Nottage's 'Sweat' Examines Lives Unraveling by Industry's Management is for them. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley - P.O. From first moments to last, this compassionate but cleareyed play throbs with heartfelt life, with characters as complicated as any youll encounter at the theater today, and with a nifty ticking time bomb of a plot. 264 0 obj <>stream 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. Both men have recently been released from jail, though the play does not immediately reveal why they were imprisoned. Through their barroom conversation, the women reveal that Jason has no future plans beyond factory work, and Chris has been accepted to college. Sweat is by no means a thinly dramatized op-ed piece. In 2000, Tracey and her best friends, Cynthia and Jessie, have worked at Olstead's Steel Tubing in Reading, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. It is clear that both men are using Oscar as a scapegoat projection for the fear, failure, and disappointment they feel. Review: 'Sweat' Imagines the Local Bar as a Caldron This is particularly hypocritical given that Tracey went for the same job and likely would have taken the promotion if she had been offered it. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. Tracey, Jessie, and Jason make racist slurs and comments at Oscar, and Jason stands up threateningly. 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). Jason comments that Oscar is kind to take care of him, and Oscar replies that this is how things should be. The mood becomes tense, and Tracey and Cynthia get into a spat: Tracey clearly resents Cynthia for getting the promotion over her. [1] It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. If you would like to give a public performance of this monologue, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor. Jason has come to beg Tracey for money, but shes hostile and unwelcoming. Sharp and threatening as a box cutter bladeferociously engrossingSWEAT never feels less than authenticand crucial. Deadline.com. If I had pompoms, Id be waving them now. Jason (Stephen Michael Spencer), with white-supremacist tattoos etched into his face and neck, reacts with sullen anger to questions about his prospects. CHRIS: Dude, its just something I gotta do. Sweat is a two-act play written by Lynn Nottage. Afterward, they go to the barwhere Jessie is once again passed out at a tableand excitedly tell Stan about it, but Stan isnt impressed. He tells her that hes in a rehab program, which doesnt impress Cynthia. [2] The play premiered at the Oregon Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The parolees are Jason (Will Pullen) and Chris (Khris Davis), and they were once the closest of friends. Jason is horrified to realize that Tracey is highit seems she developed an addiction to pain medication while Jason was in prison. Learn more. Jason grabs the baseball bat and hits Oscar in the stomach, and as he swings back to hit him again, he accidentally strikes Stan in the head. Chris shares that Jason is out too, and Cynthia angrily reflects that Jason is the one who got Chris into trouble.
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