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. They get tax breaks or something. They are best friends and joke around together. JASON: Shit, I just kinda thought wed retire and open a franchise together. date the date you are citing the material. The second is the date of The kind but stalwart officer (Kevin T. Carroll) hopes a reunion between the two will help heal their wounds. Tracey and Jessie view Cynthia as a traitor. CHRIS: Dude, its just something I gotta do. Similarly, O'Keefe plays the barkeep as one-note and frequently flubs lines. The bartender is Stan, who used to work at the factory with them until he suffered an injury. New York, NY 10007 When backed up against the wall and left with neither income nor hope, people sink into racism almost by reflex. Essay Example: What Is The Theme Of Sweat By Lynn Nottage Sweat was a meaningful production as there are many important themes to take away from the story. Word Count: 524. Since the twenties, okay? During the play Cynthia applies for a managing job at the plant which causes some problems. Jason and Chris are involved in a fight with Oscar and serve time in prison. Wil Johnson as Brucie and Stuart McQuarrie as Stan. The trade union goes on strike, and company management locks out the workers. The BMCC Theatre Department invites you to enjoy the performance of 'SWEAT' by Lynn Nottage, directed by Diane Dowling. CYNTHIA: [] I dont deserve the things youve been saying. Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. [1] The Los Angeles Times also states, "The play seemed to analytically grasp what too many political pundits had missed: the seething anger that turned a reliable blue state such as Pennsylvania red". Lynn Nottage began working on the play in 2011 by interviewing numerous residents of Reading, Pennsylvania, which at the time was, according to the United States Census Bureau, officially one of the poorest cities in America,[3] with a poverty rate of over 40%. They all work together and love to hang out at the local bar. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. "Sweat - Themes" eNotes Publishing A Critical Companion to Lynn Nottage places this renowned, award-winning playwright's contribution to American theatre in scholarly context. Content Warning: Strong language, drug references, some suggested violence, If you have any questions, contact Emma Ruopp ateruopp@bmcc.cuny.edu, Borough of Manhattan Community College Tickets will be available at the door in the Squires Student Center beginning one hour prior to the performance. Tracy is a middle aged white woman. 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. o Nottage, Lynn. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. The sheer amount of time that characters spend together in the lived-in and comfortable bar after work emphasizes just how important a similar sense of familiarity and comfort is in their relationships with one another. 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 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. The fact that everyone in Reading is trying to keep their heads above water seemingly makes them less encouraging rather than more so when their friends try to get ahead. 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. discover the notice Sweat Tcg Edition English Edition that you are looking for. With the opening focused on Chris and Jason, but the bulk of the play resting on their mothers, the audience investment from one set of characters to another feels destabilizing. 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. Giving:540-231-8014,hkobia@vt.edu. IvyMoose is the largest stock of essay samples on lots of topics and for any discipline. For online purchase, find ticket links here. [3], The play also examines the disintegration of a friendship, after two of the women one white, one black apply for the same management job. LitCharts Teacher Editions. CYNTHIA: I didnt expect you to understand, babe. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. The bartender in the play is Stan. The New Yorker said the play was "the first theatrical landmark of the Trump era". Some characters use racial slurs towards Latinos and show him that he isn't welcome in the Olstead factory. Im cool with everyone. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Sweat by Lynn Nottage Directed by Matt J. Bannister TICKETS: www.ssstage.org November 1 - 23, 2019 Fridays & Saturdays @ 8pm Matinees: November 10 and 17 @ 2pm A play in a bar like none other. The plot consists of many different characters. Award-winning playwright Lynn Nottage often shines a spotlight on Black women under great duress, as in "Ruined," a Pulitzer Prize winner, or in the workplace like the evocative turn of the . We are left hoping the characters will attempt to make amends as we see the effects of the conflict. For a thoughtful portrait, turn to playwright Lynn Nottage's 'Sweat', "The First Theatrical Landmark of the Trump Era", "Lynn Nottage: 'Nostalgia is a disease many white Americans have', "Review: Lynn Nottage's 'Sweat' Examines Lives Unraveling by Industry's Demise", "Off Broadway Review: Lynn Nottage's 'Sweat', "Lynn Nottage's SWEAT Headed to The Public Next Year; Broadway on the Horizon? She . [8][12] The production began previews on Broadway at Studio 54 on March 4, 2017, before opening on March 26. She explored the effects on residents of the loss of heavy industry and the changing ethnic composition of the city. This is highlighted by Brucie, who experienced a similar situation at a different mill. Stan seems to be the link between Oscar and the others, as the others treat Oscar like an outsider. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Order original paper now and save your time! The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Sweat switches between 2000 and 2008 as Lynn Nottage tells the story of a group of friends who work together on the factory floor. "Sweat," Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama set in a faltering factory town in Pennsylvania, magnificently answers the call for more far-ranging American playwriting. Note: All essays placed on IvyMoose.com are written by students who kindly donate their papers to us. Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Building,200 Stanger Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, Phone: 540-231-6779, Fax: 540-231-7157,news.liberalarts@vt.edu [4] The characters portrayed were associated with Trump's election campaign phrase of "the forgotten people". Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, close friends whove shared many adventures, (Points to the skin on the back of her hand). 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. Tensions rise as Cynthias new position pits her against her friends. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - Word Count: 508. Im on your side, Cynthia tells them, but Tracey challenges her: Then act like it, she says. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. In the world of the play, attempting to raise ones status and transcend ones current situation breeds resentment among the very friends who commiserated with that situation. Jason and Chris are the sons of the two women who find themselves on opposite sides over the strike, but the young men are workers themselves and try to support the strikers. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves at the best online prices at eBay! [1] It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Synopsis for SWEAT: SWEAT is a 2015 play by American playwright Lynn Nottage. CYNTHIA: Fuck her. This kind of intimate friendship seems to be the norm rather than the exception in Reading: Traceys son Jason and Cynthias son Chris are also best friends who work at Olsteads and who depend on each other for solidarity and camaraderie. Complimentary and Deeply Discounted Shows. 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. 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. Oscar is a Colombian American busboy at the bar. Themes and Colors LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sweat, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. They are getting out of jail after a conflict they were both involved in. Alas, its high production values can only do so much to hide the fact that Sweat leaves the audience feeling more like they've watched an extended soapbox speech rather than having spent time in the flesh-and-blood lives of its characters. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. There are still many labels today in the workforce and I believe Sweat did a good job portraying them, although sometimes it was hard to watch. First and only job. Jason When Chris reveals that hell be leaving Olsteads to study teaching at Albright College, Jason is blindsidedhed hoped to work alongside his best friend for the foreseeable future and to eventually retire and open a business together. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. It is bookended by scenes showing two young ex-cons confronting their parole officer, but the bulk of the action is set eight years earlier, in the year 2000, in a downtown bar where women workers from the local factory hang out. Local factory workers mull around a watering hole run by one of their former colleagues, Stan (Michael O'Keefe). [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 and Jessie grow bitter as their job security is threatened and their wages cut, while their friend Cynthia receives a promotion. Jason finds that Tracey has a significant pill addiction. Ruined. The plays setting offers an appropriate stage on which to explore this theme. Although such connections are often indirect, they arise through tangible realities such as corporate downsizing and non-union hiring practices. Faculty & Staff 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. by Lynn Nottage. 2023 . Tracey's attempts to be alluring do not convince Stan, so they stop dancing as. Less work. [13] The production closed on June 25, 2017, after 105 performances. He used to work at the plant but he was injured from a factory accident. [5] She has compared her time talking to former steelworkers in Reading with the occasion when she stayed in the town of Mansfield in the English Midlands and interviewed workers during the 1984 miners' strike. Instant PDF downloads. However, Sweats cast of characters is anything but empowered: rather than resist the hand theyve been dealt, they, The characters in Sweat have spent decades of their lives thanklessly laboring in Reading Pennsylvanias local steel and textile mills amid poor working conditions, disrespectful management, and union disputes. Lynn Nottage's Sweat was published in 2015 and won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2017. They built the house that I live in. It tells the story of Reading, Pennsylvania, but it be could any place, it could be any post-industrial city across the landscape., Your browser does not support iframes. Club members can see a different show every night of the week. [25], The play won the 2017 Obie Award for Playwrighting for the production at the Public Theater. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Most of the play takes place in a local bar, where friends like Tracey, Cynthia, and Jessie (a trio of middle-aged women whove all worked at Olsteads Steel Tubing plant for decades) gather to socialize with one another and with the beloved bartender, Stan. 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. Any subject. Jason, in particular, is notably altered by his time in prison, where he becomes a white supremacist. [] I betcha they wanted a minority. As such, the play shows how economic, Sweats cast of characters reads as distinctly human: none are wholly good nor wholly bad, and nearly all make mistakes that hurt themselves or their loved ones. She doesnt really believe a floor worker will get the promotion, but when Cynthia talks about applying, Tracey decides to as well. 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. Lynn Nottage. 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. Nov. 912 at 7:30 p.m. One of the reasons that I wanted to write Sweat is that I really wanted to put this very fractured city a city in which everyone was hurting in isolation I wanted to put those people into dialogue so they all recognized that they all shared this one central narrative. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Sweat. 30 December 2016. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Teachers and parents! samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that Ultimately, Sweat shows the interpersonal costs of raising ones station: when desperate people strive for more out of life, fellow desperate peopleeven, and especially, dear friendswill often respond with resentment rather than support. Fight director Steve Raskin makes the final confrontation realistic and harrowing. Human Resources But I meancmonyou guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than. By showing how people, Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs School of Performing Arts News|Science, Technology, and Society News|Sociology News, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Yorker said the play was `` the first theatrical landmark of the of... Through tangible realities such as corporate downsizing and non-union hiring practices but When talks! The Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2017 are looking for play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and Broadway. Stage on which to explore this theme the factory with them until he suffered an.... Assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution, babe Tracey challenges her: Then like! Raskin makes the final confrontation realistic and harrowing you tackle any essay assignment within,. Pits her against her friends citing an online source, it is important include. Resources but I meancmonyou guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than really a. 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