Event

Sweat

Sweat
by Lynn Nottage

directed and produced by Lou Okell

SHOW DATES: Sept 9-24
Fri. & Sat. at 8PM and Sun. at 2PM

Free preview for senior citizens on Thurs., Sept. 8 at 8PM

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, unbeknownst to them, their lives are about to be uprooted. 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. 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. 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. Lynn Nottages Sweat gives us characters filled with the good and the bad and asks us to reflect on our own views and the views of others. Nottage never tells us whos right or whos wrong, but always shows us whos human. --Stage Agent

Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of marginalized people. She is a professor of playwriting at Columbia University. She was the first woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice; the first in 2009 for Ruined, and the second in 2017 for Sweat.

SWEAT is presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.