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. However, we pay actors a small stipend for expenses and a portion of performance donations in accordance with AB5. TRACEY: Listen, that piece of paper youre holding is an insult, it dont mean anything, Olsteads isnt for you. In February, at the same bar, Jason, Chris, and Stan have a playful conversation about the motorcycle Jason wants to buy and about Chriss new girlfriend while Oscar listens in. CYNTHIA: Fuck her. 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. CYNTHIA: More money. PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. Stan is now severely disabled with a traumatic brain injury; he struggles to hear or speak. Oscar doesnt care, thougheveryone in Reading others him, so he feels no loyalty to them. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. The play also examines the ways working class Americans are often pitted against one another in their struggles for a better life. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs Sweat is best at its muddiest, when love and hate, and the urges to strike out and to comfort, teeter in precipitous balance. Jason and Chris meet one another at the local bar, where Oscar is now the manager. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. To laud them individually would require another review. Its the year 2000 in Reading, Pennsylvania and a group of friends go to work at the steel mill and then decompress at the bar like theyve been doing for over 20 years. But I meancmonyou guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than. Stan warns Oscar that he is putting himself in a dangerous position and stirring animosity among longtime employees. CYNTHIA: [] I dont deserve the things youve been saying. It is August 4, 2000. Lynn Nottage explains how a broken city gets a turn onstage in her play "Sweat.". STAN: Okay, you keep telling yourself that, but you saw what happened over at Clemmons Technologies. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. In the bar, Stan and Oscar look on as. Nottage's characters were based on personal research and interviews she conducted in Reading throughout 2011. Shes is upset that Cynthia seems to be ignoring her and sucking up to management. She tells Oscar that Olsteads isnt for you.. "They white,". But this much-trafficked watering hole also exerts a dangerous gravitational force, the kind that holds people in place when they should be moving on. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Its a tragic story of everyday people struggling to pick up the pieces when their lives fall apart. Jason is uncooperative when Evan asks him simple questions about his living situation and employment, and their tense interactions culminate in an argument wherein Jason yells racial slurs at Evan. Theyll work us down to nothing if we let em. Chris shares that Jason is out too, and Cynthia angrily reflects that Jason is the one who got Chris into trouble. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. before June 20 (sooner the better) and well set up a Zoom appointment or work to find other accommodations. It makes meWhatever. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. The flier advertises a much lower wage than Tracey makes, and it does not mention union requirements or benefits. Tracey? Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. %%EOF If you don't have a resume, just put down whatever experience you feel might be applicable. Cynthia sits alone in the bar, fantasizing about going on a . You could wake up tomorrow and all your jobs are in Mexico, whatever, its this NAFTA bullshit. 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. Three exemplary charactersTracey, Cynthia, and Jessieare all working class . Oscar tells Tracey that him working at Olsteads isnt personal, but Tracey counters that to her, it is personal. Stan falls, hits his head on the bar, and lies bleeding on the ground. Federal TaxID#946139640, since 04-1967. The play instantly becomes a grim social drama about factory operators in the NAFTA era who may . endstream endobj startxref As the strike progresses, the workers grow increasingly desperate. Cynthia begs everyone to stop yelling, but she eventually reveals that Olsteads is going to renegotiate the floor workers contracts: in order to save jobs, there will be a 60-percent pay cut and concessions on benefits. Tracey, Jessie, and Jason make racist slurs and comments at Oscar, and Jason stands up threateningly. 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. Instant PDF downloads. Stan is cynical about the disrespectful management at the plant, where generations of his family and he himself worked before he lost part of his leg in a work accident. START: Well. Afterward, they go to the barwhere Jessie is once again passed out at a tableand excitedly tell Stan about it, but Stan isnt impressed. JASON: [] Eleven dollars an hour? 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. TRACEY: [] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. Tracey and . They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Sharp and threatening as a box cutter bladeferociously engrossingSWEAT never feels less than authenticand crucial. Deadline.com. urges her friends to meet them halfway unless they want to lose their jobs entirely. You appreciate Ms. Nottages insistence that we be able to trace exactly the sources of her characters unhappiness. One selected monologue from SWEAT (See links next to character name for link to monologues). That the people onstage are middle-class or lower-middle-class folks too rarely given ample time on American stages makes the play all the more vital a contribution to contemporary drama. In the bar, Stan and Oscar stand by as Tracey, Chris, Jason, and Jessie angrily demand Cynthia to tell them whats going on. Also, a thank you to Theatre Bay Area for a grant of $2,500.00. The full script is available in print and e-book at multiple area libraries. As Tracey privately muses over the citys changing landscape, feeling nostalgia for the days when people were honored for working with their hands, Oscar shows her a Spanish-language job posting for Olsteads. PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Thats when Ms. Nottages characters, and the cast members who embody them, emerge in their full tragic humanity. They built this town. Right? Actors Ensemble is an all-volunteer company. Certainly I found myself squirming in my seat as I watched the forces of fate, or, to be more specific, the mechanics of 21st-century American capitalism, bear down on these characters with the brutal power of a jackhammer smashing through concrete. Im not prejudice, but thats how things are going these days. 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. It makes mewhatever. Sweat Summary. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. In April, Cynthia has gotten the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor, and she and her friends celebrate at the bar. His former friend, the African-American Chris (Tramell Tillman), by contrast, has discovered the sustaining solace of religion, and hopes to get his life back on track by taking up the college studies he was forced to abandon. So were Jasons mother, Tracey (Johanna Day), and Chriss mother, Cynthia (Michelle Wilson). She says that the U.S. plant has gotten too expensive to operate, and because of NAFTA, Olsteads can easily outsource labor to Mexico. Jason comments that Oscar is kind to take care of him, and Oscar replies that this is how things should be. Teachers and parents! (LogOut/ Jessie (K. T. Vogt), passed out at a table in the corner, isnt exactly doing her part to celebrate the birthday of Tracey (Terri McMahon), who we eventually learn is Jasons mother. Jason is horrified to realize that Tracey is highit seems she developed an addiction to pain medication while Jason was in prison. In Reading, Pennsylvania a group of factory workers are living their lives. 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. Tracey's rude behavior toward Cynthia is driving a wedge in their decades-long friendship. Through their barroom conversation, the women reveal that Jason has no future plans beyond factory work, and Chris has been accepted to college. 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. 264 0 obj <>stream That Cynthia is black and Tracey and Jessie are white becomes an issue in a way it never was before. So does the presence of Stans helper, Oscar (Carlo Albn), whose family comes from Colombia. However, Tracey is adamant that German immigrants like her own grandparents built the town. Tracey goes outside to smoke a cigarette, and Oscar comes out to ask her about working at Olsteadshe recently saw a job posting at the local Latino Community Center. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Management is for them. Brucie admits that he feels lost, and he recounts an incident of racism he recently experienced at the labor union. STAN (Shouts): What the fuck do you want him to do? 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. Ive absorbed a lotta shit over the years, but I worked hard to get off that floor. STAN: Look. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. to save jobs, and Olsteads will lock them out if they dont accept. When Oscar returns, she hurls racial slurs and goes to lunge at him, but Stan holds her back. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; We ask that you familiarize yourself with the story to prepare your audition. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. the tech bubble has recently burst, causing a record 617-point drop in the Dow Jones. 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. I don't want this to be a big deal. Lynn Nottage explains how a broken city gets a turn onstage in her play Sweat., There are rumors of imminent layoffs, though, which grow louder during the scenes set in 2000, along with speculation that the entire plant might relocate to Mexico. CYNTHIA: [] let me tell you something, once he started messing with that dope, I dont recognize the man. All is well, until economic turmoil hits. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. CYNTHIA: I didnt expect you to understand, babe. Nobodys going anywhere. Suddenly, they hear a drunken commotion from the bathroom, and Cynthia and, him out after his 21st birthday last October. Ms. Nottages sympathies clearly lie with the workers facing virtual if not literal extinction (there are swipes taken at the North American Free Trade Agreement), but the politics are embedded so deeply in the drama that we never feel the playwright is distorting the plays trajectory to score sociopolitical points. Sure, it looks awfully cozy and welcoming, and you can see why its denizens regard it as a second home. No one saw that coming. In 2000, Tracey and her best friends, Cynthia and Jessie, have worked at Olstead's Steel Tubing in Reading, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. As bars often are in old-fashioned and socially conscious dramas like Sweat, this one is a microcosm for a larger world. var addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e = 'auditions' + '@' + 'aeofberkeley' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e').innerHTML += ''+addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e+'<\/a>'; 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. Time commitment: Up to 15 hours directed rehearsing (max 5 rehearsals), 4-8 . Chris eventually becomes angry as well, and he joins Jason in beating Oscar. 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. Then, Chris reveals that hes been accepted to Albright Colleges teaching program, which shocks Jasonthey both work on the floor at Olsteads, and Jason always assumed they would retire and open a business together. And theyre right. He advises them to take any concessions that are offered to prevent a lockout from happening. Cynthias ex-husband Brucie warns his son, Chris, about his own struggles with the financial and emotional toll of another ongoing strike. However, Cynthia is adamant that she cant give up the opportunity shes been given; Tracey and Jessie dont understand what its like to walk in her shoes. New York, NY, SM for Poor Yella Rednecks They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. The soliloquies might just as easily belong to a series of human-interest news features as to a play. (Both Chris and Jason, not incidentally, also work at the plant, although Chris has higher aspirations.) Chris remembers his fingernails digging into his palms. A month after this, Olsteads workers have rejected the deal they were offered, and the lockout goes forward. 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. Review: Lynn Nottages Sweat Examines Lives Unraveling by Industrys Demise, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/theater/review-lynn-nottages-sweat-examines-lives-unraveling-by-industrys-demise.html. Tracey, a middle-aged white woman who works at the local Olstead's Steel Tubing plant, is adamant that German immigrants like her grandparents built Reading from the ground up and made it what it is today. Sweat explores how industrial decline affected workers in the former steel and textile town. SWEAT is a blistering ensemble drama about lives and friendships devastated by the ongoing deindustrialization of working-class America. Im cool with everyone. Posted in Auditions. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; Complete your free account to request a guide. 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. Were a team, you cant leave!! North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A couple of weeks later, Jessie waits alone at the barTracey, Cynthia, Jason, and Chris are all late to her birthday celebration. A drunken Jessie is passed out at a table while Tracey and Cynthia dance; theyre clearly close with each other and with Stan, the bartender with whom they engage in flirtatious banter. CYNTHIA: [] You know after everything. * Live TV from. [] Im not prejudice, I say, you are who you are, you know? This confuses Tracey, as shes adamant that theyre not hiring. Sweat is by no means a thinly dramatized op-ed piece. Presiding over Traceys informal birthday party and the subsequent, less festive birthdays of Jessie and Cynthia is Stan (Jack Willis), the bartender, though not the owner of the bar. Cynthia, who lost her house and now works irregular hours at maintenance jobs, is warm and tearfully apologetic to Christhough Chris doesnt think she has anything to be sorry for. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. In a moment of pain and frustration over their changing lives, Jason confronts Oscar at the bar. 0 Teachers and parents! 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. Girl, hes a loser. Subscribe! Well, my familys been here for a long time. 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. Anyone can read what you share. I do. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville Then, Cynthia, Tracey, and Jessie enter, and Brucie harasses Cynthia until she agrees to talk to him. passionate and necessarya masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer usSWEAT communicates its points with minimal fuss and maximum grit. He encourages both men to let go of their shame and self-blame and to meet up with each other to talk. PERFORMANCE FEE: $130 per performance. There will always be someone wholl step in, unless we say NO! Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, (Points to the skin on the back of her hand). Still, Cynthia and Tracey, who both have over 20 years of experience on the warehouse floor, are both set on applying. Well. Huh? 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). Sweat is a two-act play written by Lynn Nottage. Though Chris initially attempts to calm Jason and prevent an eruption of violent anger, he joins Jason as he beats Oscar. warns that peoples jobs could be outsourced to Mexico at any moment because of NAFTA. Thats all I need to know. It is clear that both men are using Oscar as a scapegoat projection for the fear, failure, and disappointment they feel. But a little more indirection would be more dramatically satisfying. 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). There is little doubt that when the rage festering among them fully erupts, no one will emerge unscarred. Scene 2 pans back to 2000. But, unbeknownst to them, their lives are about to be uprooted. Now, the company has posted a list of names on the front door, and Chris and Jason are in a hurry to go see it for themselves. TRACEY: Well, I got you beat by two. Ernestine Crump Crumbs from the Table of Joy 0 Start: Because mostly I feel rage. Online Audition Submissions Checklist, 2) Upload your head shot, resume, and link to your video audition to this audition form: https://forms.gle/uAnVNMz2Q6qMVvsPA. Cynthia shares Chriss news about Albright, and Brucie disapproves of the tuition cost and of Chris leaving Olsteads. Tell me about whats been going on. A new box will appear. Guide written by Nemuna Ceesay Lynn Nottage (born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are Black.She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for her play Ruined, and in 2017 for her play Sweat.She was the first (and remains the only) woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama two times. Anger. Jason panics and goes to leave, but he stops when Stan enters to wipe down tables. Theatre lover and actor. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, gives stellar examples of successful characterization. (The unobtrusively on-target set is by John Lee Beatty, with costumes in the same vein by Jennifer Moeller.).

Horizontal Integration Examples In Agriculture, Bexar County Jail Abbreviations, Articles S