PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Also, a thank you to Theatre Bay Area for a grant of $2,500.00. Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage spent two years visiting Reading, Pa., to research her new play. And while its trajectory is dark, even devastating, Sweat is damn funny, too: Ms. Nottage knows well that the natural reactions to the assaults of life faced by these particular people are a savage sense of humor, and, more damagingly, a swan dive into the comforts of alcohol and drugs. 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. Jessie tells Stan that, Jessie says shes sick of being stuck in the middle between, motorcycle. dpsinfo@broadwaylicensing.com. In September 2008, Jason, a man with white supremacist facial tattoos, meets with Evan, his African American parole officer. Jacking aint for softies! But they know they can always find somebody willing to get their hands sweaty. Instant PDF downloads. Oscar responds that he doesnt owe anything to people like Cynthia, Tracey, and Jessie because they never acknowledge his humanity: If they dont see me, I dont need to see them" (92). 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. Tracey (Jasons mother), Cynthia (Chriss mother), and their friend Jessie are celebrating Traceys birthday at a local bar in Reading, Pennsylvania. Management is for them. And theyre right. We ask that you familiarize yourself with the story to prepare your audition. In the bar, Stan and Oscar stand by as Tracey, Chris, Jason, and Jessie angrily demand Cynthia to tell them whats going on. LitCharts Teacher Editions. The flier advertises a much lower wage than Tracey makes, and it does not mention union requirements or benefits. Waking up, going to the factory, working all day, and coming home. It was a gift. Jason and Chris speak separately to their parole officer, Evan. JASON: [] Eleven dollars an hour? Its a tragic story of everyday people struggling to pick up the pieces when their lives fall apart. var addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e = 'auditions' + '@' + 'aeofberkeley' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e').innerHTML += ''+addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e+'<\/a>'; Thus, the flier ominously suggests that the factory managers intend to lay-off their existing staff. Cmon. This confuses Tracey, as shes adamant that theyre not hiring. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. TRACEY: Stillyou werent born here, Berks. Complete your free account to request a guide. The characters in this play dont have money or options and the walls are closing in fast, so for the SWEAT monologues were looking for raw yet vulnerable portrayals. However, we pay actors a small stipend for expenses and a portion of performance donations in accordance with AB5. The way the content is organized, Tracey is a middle-aged white woman of German descent; shes. We can suggest monologues, just ask. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville However, Tracey is adamant that German immigrants like her own grandparents built the town. Posted in Auditions. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season The following month, Oscar tells Stan that hes taken on some temporary hours at Olsteads because it pays so well, but Stan warns him that doing so will anger the floor workers whove been locked out. It is also striking how abruptly the scenes and action change. (The Nafta treaty is invoked with four-letter opprobrium.). Keenly observed and often surprisingly funnybut ultimately heartbreakingthe work traces the roots of a tragedy with both forensic psychological detail and embracing compassion. (LogOut/ Jason (Stephen Michael Spencer), with white-supremacist tattoos etched into his face and neck, reacts with sullen anger to questions about his prospects. sweat by lynn nottage dramatists play service inc. sweat.indd 1 1/2/2018 9:40:28 am Dramatists Play Service, Inc. So does the fact that it marks the belated Broadway debut of Ms. Nottage, a justly acclaimed dramatist of ambitious scope and fierce focus. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. 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. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Welcome to the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley website! End: You go into the building, the walls are covered over with sheetrock, the wood painted gray, or some ungodly color, and it just makes me sad. endstream endobj startxref 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. Video Auditions for SWEAT by Lynn Nottage - aeofberkeley.org From first moments to last, this . Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Just as Oscar goes to take some beer crates to the back, Oscar walks back in, looking uncomfortably at, Olsteads isnt Oscars faulthes only trying to make a living just like they are. 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. The play also examines the ways working class Americans are often pitted against one another in their struggles for a better life. Our experts can deliver a Lynn Nottage's "Sweat" Play Production essay. He tells her that hes in a rehab program, which doesnt impress Cynthia. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. TRACEY: You want us to feel sorry for you? Mediation becomes increasingly necessary when Cynthia applies for and, to everyones surprise, wins a promotion to management, causing a painful rift with Tracey, who had also applied and resents being supervised by a former equal. John Earl Jelks SWEAT was originally produced on Broadway at Studio 54 by Stuart Thompson and Louise L. Gund, premiering on March 26, 2017. Video submission deadline: Sunday, June 20, 11:59 p.m. Time commitment: Up to 15 hours directed rehearsing (max 5 rehearsals), 4-8 hours independent rehearsing, and two online readings, One contemporary monologue (90 seconds maximum). Oscar, the often-ignored Colombian American busboy, escorts her to the bathroom. Review: Lynn Nottage's 'Sweat' Examines Lives Unraveling by Industry's Well loan you a green screen if you need one. They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. In 2000, Tracey and her best friends, Cynthia and Jessie, have worked at Olstead's Steel Tubing in Reading, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. The plot briefly shifts forward to 2008 with separate scenes of Jason and Chris visiting their mothers. Though Cynthia and Tracey make light of such rumors, Stan is adamant that because of NAFTA, steel workers jobs could easily be outsourced to Mexico. Make sure to leave suggestions for other plays youd like to see on the blog and Ill see you at the next post! The play flashes back to July 2000. Tracey? Stan comments that this does sound like, The conversation then turns to the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor that Cynthia and. 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. 239 0 obj <> endobj We dont really. PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Less work. 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. Three exemplary charactersTracey, Cynthia, and Jessieare all working class . Brucie admits that he feels lost, and he recounts an incident of racism he recently experienced at the labor union. 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. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. A week later, Chris, Jason, and other union members protesting on the line get into a physical fight with the Latinx temp workers at Olsteads. Jason is horrified to realize that Tracey is highit seems she developed an addiction to pain medication while Jason was in prison. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. 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. 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. Complete your free account to request a guide. Scene 2 pans back to 2000. 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. Just as Jessie is vulnerably sharing her unrealized dreams of seeing the world as a young woman, Tracey bursts in. They built this town. Im not prejudice, but thats how things are going these days. Jason grabs the baseball bat and hits Oscar in the stomach, and as he swings back to hit him again, he accidentally strikes Stan in the head. The ensemble is exemplary, so uniformly excellent that I cannot point to a single performance as rising above the rest. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs The production team was the same as the Public Theater's, with the following change made to the cast: JESSIE .. Alison Wright 5 (Both Chris and Jason, not incidentally, also work at the plant, although Chris has higher aspirations.) The way the content is organized, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Tracey and the others are outraged. TRACEY: Well, I got you beat by two. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. It was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2017 Obie Award for Playwrighting, and three 2017 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, See more monologues from Actors Ensemble of Berkeley - P.O. Want interviews with fellow actors? A new box will appear. Buy new (amazon), new (dramatists play service) or used. 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. Scene 3. CYNTHIA: Fuck her. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. New York, NY, SM for Poor Yella Rednecks Fucking Wall Street. The plot of Sweat shifts between the present year of 2008 and an extended flashback to the year 2000. In April, Cynthia has gotten the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor, and she and her friends celebrate at the bar. The play flashes back to January 2000. [1] It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 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. TRACEY: [] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. 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. No thank you. I wanna say that. Shes is upset that Cynthia seems to be ignoring her and sucking up to management. In a moment of pain and frustration over their changing lives, Jason confronts Oscar at the bar. SWEAT is a blistering ensemble drama about lives and friendships devastated by the ongoing deindustrialization of working-class America. Well, my familys been here for a long time. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. 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. Review: 'Sweat' Imagines the Local Bar as a Caldron Though it is steeped in social combustibility, Sweat often feels too conscientiously assembled, a point-counterpoint presentation in which every disaffected voice is allowed its how-I-got-this-way monologue. Cynthias ex-husband Brucie warns his son, Chris, about his own struggles with the financial and emotional toll of another ongoing strike. Cynthia: aeb Audition Material, Monologues. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! With its attentively-crafted, compassionate examinations of the displaced working class, Sweat exposes the human costs of late-stage American capitalism. Thats when Ms. Nottages characters, and the cast members who embody them, emerge in their full tragic humanity. Brucie ends up begging Cynthia for another chance, but she stays strong with Tracey and Jessies support. 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. passionate and necessarya masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer usSWEAT communicates its points with minimal fuss and maximum grit. I know its tough out there, I understand. Cynthia and Tracey worry that Jessies problem with alcohol could get her fired. In the plays opening scene, Chris tells his parole officer about his first encounter with Jason after theyve been released from prison. As the tension of the moment is described here, you expect the men to hit each other. To laud them individually would require another review. But I meancmonyou guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than. 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. Oscar plays a handheld video game behind the bar. She had unwisely let her ex-husband, Brucie (Kevin Kenerly), move back in for a few days around the Christmas holidays, only to wake up on the morning itself and find half the presents under the tree gone as well as her fish tank. With the use of distinct dialog, actions, and belief structures for each of the characters, the characters (on paper and on stage) stand out as unique individuals that the audience can identify with. It is clear that both men are using Oscar as a scapegoat projection for the fear, failure, and disappointment they feel. In 'Sweat,' Adapting To Change Is The Hardest Work Of All Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, gives stellar examples of successful characterization. These scenes depict Tracey struggling with pill addiction, and Cynthia living in a small, cluttered, low-rent apartment. Girl, hes a loser. CYNTHIA: That rumors been flying around for months. Im cool with everyone. College/University, Diverse Cast, Ensemble Cast, Mature Audiences, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre. If you don't have a resume, just put down whatever experience you feel might be applicable. After what went down. 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. Chris shares that Jason is out too, and Cynthia angrily reflects that Jason is the one who got Chris into trouble. Esther Intimate Apparel 3 Still, Cynthia and Tracey, who both have over 20 years of experience on the warehouse floor, are both set on applying. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Aspirations to another life may be common among these people, but such hopes are widely resented when they show signs of becoming reality. There is little doubt that when the rage festering among them fully erupts, no one will emerge unscarred. CYNTHIA: Ive stood on that line, same line since I was nineteen. 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. Tracey encourages her son, escalating his confrontation into violence. Be angry, but dont make it about this(Points to the skin on the back of her hand) Look at me, Tracey. 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. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Jason comments that Oscar is kind to take care of him, and Oscar replies that this is how things should be. If you would like to give a public performance of this monologue, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor. Sweat play by lynn nottage pdf SweatWritten byLynn NottageDate premiered2015 (2015)Place premieredOregon Shakespeare FestivalOriginal languageEnglishSettingReading, Pennsylvania Sweat is a 2015 play by American playwright Lynn Nottage.
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