Sweat By Lynn Nottage

Sweat is a 2017 playwright piece by Lynn Nottage (produced by Dramatists Play Service, Inc). The show covers an array of themes including industrialization, race, economics, and addiction. It follows a group of nine characters, all living within the same Pennsylvania community. The characters also all work for the same factory, “Olstead’s.” The shows swap back between 2 different years: 2000 and 2008. Act one starts in 2008, but the rest consists of flashbacks to 2000, which explains the relationships between characters, and foreshadows later conflicts. The two biggest conflicts set up in act one were that of two characters, Jason and Chris, who supposedly got into some legal trouble, and Cynthia, who has a rocky relationship with her ex-husband

Tracey is addicted to painkillers, and Cynthia lost her house, having to work odd maintenance jobs. Throughout the second act, more of the conflict is revealed. In another swap back in 2000, Cynthia reveals that everyone is getting laid off. She isn’t thrilled about it happening, but she also doesn’t want to give up the amazing opportunity she’s been given. This is what caused the major fallout between Tracey and Cynthia. This keeps spiraling until a, slightly racially fueled, fight breaks out in the bar between the male members of the cast, as Oscar, who works at the bar, gets a job at Olstead’s after everyone else gets laid off. This altercation is what landed Chris and Jason in jail. The show ends with another swap back in 2008, where Stan, Oscar, Chris, and Jason all meet again. Though they do not reach an agreement on what happened eight years prior, they all are together again, and the show ends. Overall, Sweat was an incredibly enjoyable show. It shows struggles in the workforce, personal issues with friends, and it tells a story which often needs amplification. I really like productions that lack a conclusive ending, and leave the audience to interpret what happens when the curtain