To See or Not to See: Sweat

The oft-forgotten small-town American factory worker is brought to life in Lynn Nottage’s timely new play, Sweat.

Reading, Pennsylvania is a factory town. Oldstead has been the steel factory where almost every towns person has worked. And every towns person’s parents and grandparents worked there, too. It is in their blood and sweat. The play begins in 2008 when two of its residents, Jason (Will Pullen) and Chris (Khris Davis), have been released from prison. Each man meets with Evan (Lance Coadie Williams) the parole officer; these are some of the most subtle and wonderful moments in the show. From these scenes, we slowly discover why they were incarcerated 8 years earlier; So, scenes travel between 2000 and 2008, and we see just how impactful Oldstead is on its town.

Tracey (an explosive Johanna Day), Cynthia (Michelle Wilson), and Jessie (Alison Wright) have been friends for almost three decades, working the factory floor together. Tracey’s son, Jason, and Cynthia’s son, Chris, are best friends who work at the factory, too. They, like every other factory worker past and present, stop by the local bar after work to wind down (John Lee Beatty has done a wonderful job with the set. It is almost as if you could walk through those doors yourself and have a drink). Stan (an endearing James Colby), a former factory worker himself, manages this bar. It is where almost all the action of Sweat takes place.

Will Pullen and Khris Davis in Sweat

When we meet the ladies, Cythnia has finally kicked her addict husband–and former factory line worker–Brucie (John Earl Jelks), out of the house, envisioning a better life for herself and her son. Chris has been accepted into a teacher’s college, but, in an effort to make enough money to pay tuition, he has to work double shifts at the factory over the summer. In her quest for something more than what they’ve always had, Cynthia decides to apply for a management position at the factory. After learning that, brash Tracey throws her hat in the running, too. Cynthia ultimately gets the promotion, and their friendship turns bitter. Tracey’s ugliness emerges when she goes around telling everyone that Cynthia got the promotion because she is black; race has never been an issue between them before.

On top of that, the factory is downsizing. Despite Stan’s well-informed warnings, everyone is caught off-guard, and tensions rise. When Oldstead finally cuts jobs, the workers go on strike. Oscar (Carlo Albán), Stan’s bar back, sees his chance to finally get a foot in the door at the factory and earn a few more dollars more per hour for his family. Instantly, he becomes a target for the simmering rage that the striking workers feel.

As Sweat reaches it’s penultimate scene, where the mystery of Jason and Chris’s incarceration is revealed, the emotion is unstoppable. Under Kate Whoriskey’s direction, this very solid ensemble of actors is able to enrage you while at the same time illicit your sympathy. These people are stuck in the past; they are fearful of the future and in denial that change is inevitable. The actors convey all of this so well that it is almost palpable.

At times, though, the play itself has a few kinks. The characters explain too much of their story, each taking their turn at center stage for lengthy monologues. It is somewhat too staged to hear each of them actually explain who they are, where they come from, and how they got to where they are. On the other hand, it is enlightening, especially in today’s political climate. Sweat will help open your eyes to how those outside your own bubble think. It is exactly like what Evan tells Chris and Jason, “These things ain’t simple.”

Sweat will linger with you long after the curtain drops.

Sweat is currently running at Studio 54.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus