All rights reserved. Tracey and Jessie view Cynthia as a traitor. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Ive absorbed a lotta shit over the years, but I worked hard to get off that floor. (212) 220-8000 Based on extensive interviews with residents of the rustbelt town of Reading, Pennsylvania, it shows the anger and despair that helped fuel the election of Donald Trump. Accessibility Last Updated on October 12, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. 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. The bartender is Stan, who used to work at the factory with them until he suffered an injury. This change proves to be an advantage for Cynthia professionally, but a disadvantage personally. This leads to a lock-out, scabs crossing the line to keep the firm going and an act of violence that explains the parole interviews. Nottage chose the Rust Belt town of Reading, Pennsylvania, because at the time of the plays composition, Reading was the poorest town of its size in the United States. Human Development News|Languages and Literatures News|Philosophy News|Political Science News Race and class in the workplace: Nottage explores the. Jump-start your essay with our outlining tool to make sure you have all the main points of your essay covered. Jason, in particular, is notably altered by his time in prison, where he becomes a white supremacist. Nottage addresses the theme of social status, specifically in how the characters' lives and relationships are shaped based on job position, socio-economic class, and education. Lead the Pack", How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sweat_(play)&oldid=1127802853, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from May 2022, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from May 2022, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 16 December 2022, at 19:00. Nottage has said that she was particularly influenced by a New York Times article reporting on the city specifically, and by the Occupy Wall Street movement more generally. The acting is superlative. Event Calendar More heat. Academic Policies The bartender in the play is Stan. 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. You're making the same sorry excuses that they do. As the months of 2000 pass, the relationships that create the foundation of Sweat begin to unravel and we come to see the events that led Chris and Jason, two best buds with exuberance for their future, to wind up in prison. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. 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. grounds " Sweat " , emphasizing it 's the everyday - nature of the plays themes . In 2000, we meet best friends Tracey, Cynthia, and Jessie. It closed on December 18, 2016 to transfer to Broadway. Note: All essays placed on IvyMoose.com are written by students who kindly donate their papers to us. [4] The play was produced off-Broadway in 2016, and on-Broadway in 2017. Nottage's characters were based on personal research and interviews she conducted in Reading throughout 2011. [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. The last date is today's publication online or last modification online. Lynn Nottages Sweat is a play set in 2000 and 2008 that explores the tension in a group of friends in the midst of layoffs at a factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. You dont want to go down that road, weve got too much history between us. By signing up you are confirming you are 16 or over. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Behind the plays portrayal of the damage done to individual lives by what Nottage calls the American de-industrial revolution lies a wider picture of collapsing hopes and corporate ruthlessness. The ramifications of humanity's anger hangs over the play, yet Nottage hints at the power of forgiveness and redemption. 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. Sweat was a meaningful production as there are many important themes to take away from the story. Jason finds that Tracey has a significant pill addiction. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. [] Im not prejudice, I say, you are who you are, you know? Job Opportunities He offers guidance that is bluntly, candidly phrased, but also empathetically considered. date the date you are citing the material. Portia is stiff as Cynthia, talking at the characters instead of speaking her peace. JASON: Shit, I just kinda thought wed retire and open a franchise together. Religion and Culture News|Reserve Officer Training Corps News|School of Education News She explored the effects on residents of the loss of heavy industry and the changing ethnic composition of the city. [10] It said that the city was "synonymous with deindustrialisation", for the effects there of loss of heavy industry and related jobs.[10]. In commenting on the origins of Sweat, Nottage said, I really set about to figure out how poverty and economic stagnation was really shifting the American narrative. This contributed to the story of the play, as we continually see different scenes centered around drinking, especially after work or on stressful days. L ynn Nottage's Sweat is a play set in 2000 and 2008 that explores the tension in a group of friends in the midst of layoffs at a factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. Overall, I believe that this production was truly eye-opening and although many problems are discussed, the awareness raised about racial tension was the most significant. We are left hoping the characters will attempt to make amends as we see the effects of the conflict. Oscar and his coworker Stan (the bartender at the bar where the characters all hang out) are attacked in a demonstration. The City University of New York Although much of the . As coming from a Hispanic background and having family members come from Costa Rica to America, scenes centered around Oscar were important to me. A Critical Companion to Lynn Nottage places this renowned, award-winning playwright's contribution to American theatre in scholarly context. Im cool with everyone. Thursday-Saturday February 23-25 at 7:30pm. [13] The production closed on June 25, 2017, after 105 performances. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - You can order a custom paper by our expert writers. you can use them for inspiration and simplify your student life. But the sense of pride they've had over their work is being stripped away as the company begins to disassemble. Mara plays Tracey as a shrill woman who is looking for others to blame. Tickets will be available at the door in the Squires Student Center beginning one hour prior to the performance. SWEAT is a 2015 play by American playwright Lynn Nottage. Struggling with distance learning? Unfortunately, that kinetic energy is all on one level, high, so the audience feels distanced from the characters. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2017. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The management/worker division begins to separate the friends, and racial tensions separate them further. For online purchase, find ticket links here. Superlatively acted Leanne Best, Martha Plimpton and Clare Perkins in Sweat at Donmar Warehouse, London. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. His best friend is Chris, Cynthias son. Directions Chris gets involved in the fight. Fred Mazelis. Thus, these essays are of lower quality than ones written by experts. The bar itself is symbolic of the friendships that play out within it, as both the place and the relationships it facilitates are safe havens away from the stress of the outside world. A lot of wrong things can be said under the influence, and I believe most of their arguments all began with the abuse of alcohol. At the beginning of 2000, every character is either part of the working class or experiencing the repercussions of union strikes. Alumni, Institutional Effectiveness and Analytics, Theatre Department Performance: SWEAT by Lynn Nottage. 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. By using it, you accept our. [1] It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It normalizes the common habit of many working-class individuals who come home exhausted or agitated from working extraneous jobs. The plot consists of many different characters. Mainly the women in her family who were teachers, activists, and artists. The plays setting offers an appropriate stage on which to explore this theme. Sweat examines the changing lives of factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania, between the years of 2000 and 2008. 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. [2] The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015; it was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Her friend Cynthia is a black woman who also loves to hang out with her friends at the bar and is a hardworking woman in the factory. Stan seems to be the link between Oscar and the others, as the others treat Oscar like an outsider. eNotes.com, Inc. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. Teachers and parents! Call me selfish, I dont care, call me whatever you need to call me, but remember, one of us has to be left standing to fight. Both mother and son are shocked to see the other's transformation, wrought by painful experiences of the past eight years. She has created exactly the ensemble piece she set out to create empathetic, searching, searing, honest, and full of humanity and I found exactly the same qualities in this cast as we have worked together. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. To understand how we got here, Nottage takes us back to the year 2000. But when . 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. Although such connections are often indirect, they arise through tangible realities such as corporate downsizing and non-union hiring practices. CYNTHIA: More money. Instant PDF downloads. In Lynette Lintons production, Frankie Bradshaws impressive design sets the watering hole against a background of rusting girders. The second date is today's 30 December 2016. 2023 . T he main themes in Sweat are race and class in the workplace, the effect of work life on the family, and economies and individuals. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Carroll, in his few scenes as the parole officer, conveys the father figure both boys need to rehabilitate. Eventually in 2017, winning the Pulitzer prize award for drama. Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Who is the antagonist in the play Sweat by Lynn Nottage? This website uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. (including. As Warehouse Supervisor, Cynthia has a newfound insiders perspective into the management side of the plant. To get a high-quality original essay, click here. This specific scene supports how the usage of alcohol as a prop was continually utilized as a coping mechanism for many characters. 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. Saturday-Sunday February 25 & 26 at 2pm . online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Already a member? Jessie, another worker at the factory, is not so happy with how her life has turned out and has some problems with alcohol abuse. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. The second date is today's [1] The action takes place in a fictional bar[6] in Reading, Pennsylvania.[7]. Any subject. She used these substances as coping mechanisms which also led her to say racist comments about her own friend. As mentioned earlier , when Nottage does use aspects of spectacle , it emphasizes these themes further , aspects like lighting . All of the floor workers at Olsteads feel replaceable and worry about their job security, so Cynthias bump in pay and benefits comes off as a slap in the face to her coworkersone that drives a wedge between her and Tracey especially. Stay abreast of discount offers for great theater, on Broadway or in select cities. Of the performances, Coleman and Hochman remarkably deviate from sullen and washed-out in their 2008 scenes, to rambunctious, youthful, and optimistic in 2000. Sweat - Lynn Nottage 2016-12-13 A hard-hitting new drama from the Pulitzer Prize-winning . TRACEY: Well, I got you beat by two. Admissions Im not prejudice, but thats how things are going these days. She is on and off with her husband, Brucie, who is addicted to drugs. However, several close relationships are challenged as characters try to pursue new opportunities and escape the very circumstance over which they bond with others. The Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts will present Lynn Nottages award-winning Sweat for eight performances, opening on Nov. 9 in Squires Studio Theatre. date the date you are citing the material.
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