Oscar plays a handheld video game behind the bar. At the same time, Chris goes to Cynthias apartment, where hell be staying. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. As the tension of the moment is described here, you expect the men to hit each other. Cynthia spends her birthday alone in the bar, where she confides in Stan how stressed and guilty she feels about locking her friends (and her own son) out of the plant. Finally, Jason breaks and admits that he recently ran into Chris, whom Jason tried to forget while he was in prison. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Right? 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. Time commitment: Up to 15 hours directed rehearsing (max 5 rehearsals), 4-8 . The play is set both on the eve and in the twilight of George W. Bushs presidency. Then, Cynthia, Tracey, and Jessie enter, and Brucie harasses Cynthia until she agrees to talk to him. Sweat Character Tracey Gender Female Age Range Adult, Mature Adult Style Dramatic Act/Scene Act One, Scene Five Time & Place April 2000, Outside a bar Length Long Time Period Contemporary Show Type Play Tags worker working class memory nostalgia family legacy emotional Context Tracey is outside the bar smoking. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Fucking Wall Street. Well, my familys been here a long time. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Jason has come to visit, shoulda though Chris doesnt think she has anything to be sorry about. New York, NY, SM for Poor Yella Rednecks Nobodys going anywhere. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Chris tries to break it up, but Oscar headbutts him, and, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. But Chris has his heart set on following his own pathits just something he has to do. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Cynthias ex-husband Brucie warns his son, Chris, about his own struggles with the financial and emotional toll of another ongoing strike. First and only job. 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. This confuses Tracey, as shes adamant that theyre not hiring. 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. 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. Since the twenties, okay? He tells her that hes in a rehab program, which doesnt impress Cynthia. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley is delighted to acknowledge the Berkeley Civic Arts Program and Civic Arts Commission's support in the form of a grant of $8,000.00 awarded in 2017. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs During this conversation, Jessie wakes up and become belligerent when Stan wont serve her another drink. The play returns to Jason and Chriss separate parole meetings with Evan in October 2008. tailored to your instructions. Jason (Stephen Michael Spencer), with white-supremacist tattoos etched into his face and neck, reacts with sullen anger to questions about his prospects. Jason asks where his mom is, but Jessie doesnt know; Jason reassures her that, Berks County, Pennsylvania, experiences a 111-percent rise in power shutoffs. The following month, Brucie sits at the bar and confides in Stan about the lockout at his textile mill, which has been going on for nearly two years. urges her friends to meet them halfway unless they want to lose their jobs entirely. The plot briefly shifts forward to 2008 with separate scenes of Jason and Chris visiting their mothers. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. TRACEY: You want us to feel sorry for you? Scene 3. One selected monologue from SWEAT (See links next to character name for link to monologues). 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. Chris and Jason are clearly apologetic but cant yet bring themselves to verbalize what theyre thinking. 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. Talk to Olstead, his cronies. I got eyes. But a little more indirection would be more dramatically satisfying. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. It is foolish to underestimate the anger in places like these, as the most recent presidential election confirmed. 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. The way the content is organized, Tracey is a middle-aged white woman of German descent; shes. STAN: Okay, you keep telling yourself that, but you saw what happened over at Clemmons Technologies. But I stood on line, patiently waiting for a break. So does the fact that it marks the belated Broadway debut of Ms. Nottage, a justly acclaimed dramatist of ambitious scope and fierce focus. The four men uneasily wait for the next moment, together yet divided. Brucie admits that he feels lost, and he recounts an incident of racism he recently experienced at the labor union. hbbd``b`Y $+A H0@caqA,7 $&$$1&F: O ! Sweat is best at its muddiest, when love and hate, and the urges to strike out and to comfort, teeter in precipitous balance. 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. [1] It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Most of the plays action takes place in a local bar run by Stana former factory worker who was chronically disabled when he injured his leg in a machineand Oscar, a young Colombian American man who helps with stocking and cleaning. Stan is now severely disabled with a traumatic brain injury; he struggles to hear or speak. Its a tragic story of everyday people struggling to pick up the pieces when their lives fall apart. He tells Evan about how he recently saw Jason: the two men had hugged on the street despite their heightened emotions and Jasons offensive tattoos. Tracey brings up an overseer job opportunity at Olsteads and the rumor that management intends to promote someone off the factory floor. Hugging. 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. Filming yourself from a hand-held camera will be fine. Note: We are restricted by licensing concerns to casting to type. The flier advertises a much lower wage than Tracey makes, and it does not mention union requirements or benefits. 440 Park Avenue South document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Design a site like this with WordPress.com, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), The Assembled Parties by RichardGreenberg, Follow The Monologue Blog on WordPress.com. In Sweat, which opened on Sunday night at Studio 54, the feeling of familiarity that pervades the plays central setting gradually shades into contempt among those who drink there for themselves, for one another and for the life they cannot escape. dpsinfo@broadwaylicensing.com. PERFORMANCE FEE: $130 per performance. 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. Sweat by Lynn Nottage marlenaeckel March 13, 2020 Drama, Medium, Men, Monologue, Short, Women Monologue, Monologues, Theater, Theatre What is it about? Chris eventually becomes angry as well, and he joins Jason in beating Oscar. (including. (The Nafta treaty is invoked with four-letter opprobrium.). From first moments to last, this . Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Jason and Chris solemnly reflect that it is kind of Oscar to take care of Stan. After a long work shift at Olsteads mill, three middle-aged female friendsan African American woman named Tracey, an Italian American woman named Jessie, and a German American woman named Cynthiahang out at Stans bar. for only $13.00 $11.05/page. Its a paradox given beautiful life when Ms. Days Tracey, after angrily lecturing Oscar outside the bar, relents and gives him the cigarette he had asked for earlier; and when Tracey and Cynthia, now at loggerheads, share a memory of an eventful trip to Atlantic City. [] I betcha they wanted a minority. Thats when Ms. Nottages characters, and the cast members who embody them, emerge in their full tragic humanity. Ive taken orders from idiots who were dangerous, or even worse, racist. Meanwhile, Oscar goes to work at Olsteads as a scab employee, eager to make more money than he does at the bar. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. The full script is available in print and e-book at multiple area libraries. Lynn Nottage Monologues Monologues from shows associated with Lynn Nottage Start: There you have it! Cynthia says she plans to apply, hoping for better opportunities. Jason has come to beg Tracey for money, but shes hostile and unwelcoming. Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage spent two years visiting Reading, Pa., to research her new play. Chris remembers his fingernails digging into his palms. Nottages characters were based on personal research and interviews she conducted in Reading throughout 2011. Brucie ends up begging Cynthia for another chance, but she stays strong with Tracey and Jessies support. It is clear that both men are using Oscar as a scapegoat projection for the fear, failure, and disappointment they feel. 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. 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. 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. A month after this, Olsteads workers have rejected the deal they were offered, and the lockout goes forward. 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. passionate and necessarya masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer usSWEAT communicates its points with minimal fuss and maximum grit. Hes an avuncular type who keeps the peace when necessary, with the help of his Dominican bar-back, Oscar (Carlo Albn). Instant PDF downloads. Our experts can deliver a Lynn Nottage's "Sweat" Play Production essay. Want new monologue material three days a week? North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The issues this drama raises painfully timely ones, I hardly need add surface organically from the circumstances. In a moment of pain and frustration over their changing lives, Jason confronts Oscar at the bar. 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. 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. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Weve just come Start: Every since her father hung himse Start: 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. Guide written by Nemuna Ceesay The play opens in a Reading parole office in 2008, panning back and forth between Jason and Chris. going to renegotiate the floor workers contracts, and theyre prepared to fight for significant concessions. Jason panics and goes to leave, but he stops when Stan enters to wipe down tables. Suddenly, they hear a drunken commotion from the bathroom, and Cynthia and, him out after his 21st birthday last October. Brucie, whose union has been locked out of the citys other plant for two months after the union balked at draconian pay cuts, has been hitting something harder than the bottle. The parolees are Jason (Will Pullen) and Chris (Khris Davis), and they were once the closest of friends. Cynthia shares Chriss news about Albright, and Brucie disapproves of the tuition cost and of Chris leaving Olsteads. 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. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. ISBN 978-1-55936-532-1 for edition reference. So did Stan (James Colby), the bartender, but he lost his job after a leg-maiming accident. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Less work. Buy new (amazon), new (dramatists play service) or used. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs Sweat is a two-act play written by Lynn Nottage. Complete your free account to request a guide. Tracey and Jessie show up and get into an argument with Cynthia, calling her a traitor. 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 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. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. You could wake up tomorrow and all your jobs are in Mexico, whatever, its this NAFTA bullshit. 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. 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). CYNTHIA: [] You know after everything. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; Sweat moves fluidly between these passages (and others set elsewhere but at the same time) and scenes from eight years before, when the bulk of the action takes place. Soon they are out of work and replaced by those who will work for less. Nottage never tells us whos right or whos wrong, but always shows us whos human. To access the monologues, click the highlighted link. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! When Stan attempts to break up the fight, Jason accidentally hits him in the head with a baseball bat, causing a traumatic brain injury. 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. Refine any search. Federal TaxID#946139640, since 04-1967. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Jason comments that Oscar is kind to take care of him, and Oscar replies that this is how things should be. Those traits are definitely on display in Sweat, which is directed by Kate Whoriskey and features a sturdy nine-member ensemble. They built the house that I live in. Well, my familys been here for a long time. Cynthia (Kimberly Scott), the mother of Chris, has more pressing man trouble. Longtime friends Cynthia and, Stan comments on the successful nightlots of people turned out for. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of Sweat by Lynn Nottage. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season to save jobs, and Olsteads will lock them out if they dont accept. He thinks Jason and Chris should move on and get out of Reading. Change). Yeah, yeah, yeah. CYNTHIA: Fuck her. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Im not prejudice, but thats how things are going these days. They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. The play flashes back to July 2000. Youve always been cool. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. However, Tracey is adamant that German immigrants like her own grandparents built the town. Tracey is a middle-aged white woman of German descent; she's Jason 's mother and Hank 's widow. There will always be someone wholl step in, unless we say NO! Theyll work us down to nothing if we let em. We ask that you provide your own costumes (contemporary tee shirts, baseball caps, bandannas), makeup, and props (beer and shot glasses, cigarettes, keys). She tells Oscar that Olsteads isnt for you.. JASON: [] But seriously, man, why didnt you tell me? Both Tracey and Jessie feel betrayed by Cynthia. Stan slams a baseball bat down on the bar and orders Jason to sit, but Jason blocks Oscar from leaving and begins to beat him. Review: Sweat Imagines the Local Bar as a Caldron, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/26/theater/sweat-review-broadway.html, From left, John Earl Jelks, Carlo Albn, Johanna Day, Michelle Wilson and Allison Wright in the play Sweat., From left, Johanna Day, Khris Davis, Carlo Albn and Will Pullen in Sweat.. 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. Jason is hurt that Chris didnt tell him until now, and hes adamant that Chris cant leave Olsteads because theyre supposed to be a team. In April, Cynthia has gotten the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor, and she and her friends celebrate at the bar. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. More heat. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Until the plays penultimate scene, Sweat keeps the nature of its climactic act of violence a secret, and the sense of mystery is underscored by questions posed and unanswered between mothers and sons, and the men and their parole officer, Evan (Lance Coadie Williams) in the 2008 scenes. You hear from the old gang? After what went down. 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. Cynthia tells Tracey and Stan about how she recently kicked out her estranged husband, Brucie, againhes been abusing drugs ever since he was locked out of his job at a local textile mill. He, too, worked in the factory, as did his father and grandfather, until an accident caused by a faulty machine almost cost him a leg. Both men have recently been released from jail, though the play does not immediately reveal why they were imprisoned. Sweat examines the changing lives of factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania, between the years of 2000 and 2008. Tracey and the others are outraged. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. STAN: Look. Lynn Nottage explains how a broken city gets a turn onstage in her play "Sweat.". Forget all that. Ms. Nottage did intensive research for this play, and it shows, perhaps more than it should. 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. 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. JASON: [] All Im saying is that he needs to understand the price of that dinner hes putting on his table. But I meancmonyou guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than. CHRIS: Dude, its just something I gotta do. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Online Audition Submissions Checklist, 2) Upload your head shot, resume, and link to your video audition to this audition form: https://forms.gle/uAnVNMz2Q6qMVvsPA. In Reading, Pennsylvania a group of factory workers are living their lives. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. 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. Click on the name of the character in that box. Tracey bitterly wonders if Cynthia received the promotion because she is Black. 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. In September 2008, Jason, a man with white supremacist facial tattoos, meets with Evan, his African American parole officer. 239 0 obj <> endobj Actors Ensemble of Berkeley is now accepting video auditions for an online workshop reading of SWEAT by Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, directed by Tracy Baxter. Teachers and parents! 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. 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. Oscar tells Tracey that him working at Olsteads isnt personal, but Tracey counters that to her, it is personal. CYNTHIA: I didnt expect you to understand, babe. JASON: Shit, I just kinda thought wed retire and open a franchise together. We can suggest monologues, just ask. John Earl Jelks SWEAT was originally produced on Broadway at Studio 54 by Stuart Thompson and Louise L. Gund, premiering on March 26, 2017. Learn more. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Tracey and . She is upset that her friend. And this thoughtful, careful play only seldom acquires the distance-erasing passion of Ms. Nottages Ruined, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner about female casualties of the Congolese civil war. Esther Intimate Apparel 3 All is well, until economic turmoil hits. Writing that cuts this close to the bone draws out the best in actors. Anger. So does the presence of Stans helper, Oscar (Carlo Albn), whose family comes from Colombia. And theyre right. 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.
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