I believe the arts should be fun and I just want to help my fellow theatre lovers in the neverending quest to find the perfect monologue! 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. to learn more about this monologue from Sweat and unlock other amazing theatre resources! To laud them individually would require another review. 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. I wanna say that. Thank you for checking out my post! Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, gives stellar examples of successful characterization. Learn more. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. 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. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Talk to Olstead, his cronies. %PDF-1.4 % But they are passages that turn those delivering these monologues into social case studies, a status that the bluntly drawn performances do not always combat. Im cool with everyone. Nottage's characters were based on personal research and interviews she conducted in Reading throughout 2011. When Stan attempts to break up the fight, Jason accidentally hits him in the head with a baseball bat, causing a traumatic brain injury. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Welcome to the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley website! You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama THE STORY: Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. In the foreground of these scenes, set in a bar favored by workers at the local metal tubing plant, are three middle-aged women, fast friends who together have put in more than 60 years working machines on the factory floor. Lynn Nottage explains how a broken city gets a turn onstage in her play Sweat.. passionate and necessarya masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer usSWEAT communicates its points with minimal fuss and maximum grit. Jacking aint for softies! But they know they can always find somebody willing to get their hands sweaty. For full extended monologue, please refer to clips or the script edition cited here: Nottage, Lynn, Sweat, Theatre Communications Group, 2017, p. 49. Thus, the play foreshadows the human toll of the factorys forthcoming lay-offs. The plays final scene returns to 2008. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs These middle class, unionized, steelworkers have made plans to save money, go on vacations and then retire with a nice, healthy pension, but when rumors start flying that the company is considering layoffs, and flyers are hung to recruit non-union Latino workers for less money, the war between community and capitalism begins, and tensions start destroying not only jobs, but also relationships. 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. Oscar plays a handheld video game behind the bar. Stan comments that this does sound like, The conversation then turns to the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor that Cynthia and. 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. Dramatists Play Service, Inc. At this. The plot briefly shifts forward to 2008 with separate scenes of Jason and Chris visiting their mothers. The production team was the same as the Public Theater's, with the following change made to the cast: JESSIE .. Alison Wright 5 "They white,". Youve always been cool. Buy new (amazon), new (dramatists play service) or used. SWEAT Broadway Reviews | Broadway World It is foolish to underestimate the anger in places like these, as the most recent presidential election confirmed. CYNTHIA: [] I dont deserve the things youve been saying. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville He thinks Jason and Chris should move on and get out of Reading. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Let it be enough to say that each actor locates the rich humanity in his or her character, and transmits it to the audience with deceptive ease. (including. CYNTHIA: Fuck her. Complex matters of race, class and culture are handled with impeccable deftness. Oscar aint getting rich off your misery. Cynthia says she plans to apply, hoping for better opportunities. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. A.E. Oscar doesnt care, thougheveryone in Reading others him, so he feels no loyalty to them. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. No thank you. 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. MONOLOGUE: Sweat Cliff Rooks 32 subscribers Subscribe 1.6K views 5 years ago This is a monologue from the play "Sweat" by Lynn Nottage We reimagined cable. Jason and Chris meet one another at the local bar, where Oscar is now the manager. In April, Cynthia has gotten the promotion to Warehouse Supervisor, and she and her friends celebrate at the bar. I hope I was able to introduce you to more monologue material! var addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e = 'auditions' + '@' + 'aeofberkeley' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e').innerHTML += ''+addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e+'<\/a>'; Tracey is a middle-aged white woman of German descent; she's Jason 's mother and Hank 's widow. Their conversations with Evan suggest, however, that they participated in the same crime. [] I betcha they wanted a minority. At the same time, Chris goes to Cynthias apartment, where hell be staying. But, unbeknownst to them, their lives are about to be uprooted. It begins in 2008 in scenes that switch between a parole officers interrogations of two young men recently released from prison and flashes back to 2000, to follow the road to the crime for which they were incarcerated. Lynn Nottage's Sweat gives us characters filled with the good and the bad and asks us to reflect on our own views and the views of . And theyre right. SWEAT is a blistering ensemble drama about lives and friendships devastated by the ongoing deindustrialization of working-class America. Review: 'Sweat' Imagines the Local Bar as a Caldron Ive got twenty-four years on the floor. Subscribe! The play returns to Jason and Chriss separate parole meetings with Evan in October 2008. One selected monologue from SWEAT (See links next to character name for link to monologues). Monologue - Tracey from Sweat - YouTube Tracey's monologue to Cynthia from Lynn Nottage's Sweat Tracey's monologue to Cynthia from Lynn Nottage's Sweat. 264 0 obj <>stream Video Auditions for SWEAT by Lynn Nottage - aeofberkeley.org Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, (Points to the skin on the back of her hand). 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. The flier advertises a much lower wage than Tracey makes, and it does not mention union requirements or benefits. Olstead is a prick. tailored to your instructions. CYNTHIA: Ive stood on that line, same line since I was nineteen. 440 Park Avenue South New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. 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. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Cynthia: aeb Audition Material, Monologues. %%EOF Complete your free account to request a guide. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, See more monologues from Aspirations to another life may be common among these people, but such hopes are widely resented when they show signs of becoming reality. 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. to learn more about this monologue from Sweat and unlock other amazing theatre resources! They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Character building in 'Sweat' - aesantana 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. You dont know what its been like to walk in my shoes. 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. 3) If you have trouble submitting or are unable to film yourself, dont worry. Tracey bitterly wonders if Cynthia received the promotion because she is Black. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. It was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2017 Obie Award for Playwrighting, and three 2017 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Chris Monologue from "Sweat" by Lynn Nottage - YouTube Jason and Chris solemnly reflect that it is kind of Oscar to take care of Stan. In 2000, Tracey and her best friends, Cynthia and Jessie, have worked at Olstead's Steel Tubing in Reading, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. She is upset that her friend 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. If you don't have a resume, just put down whatever experience you feel might be applicable. STAN: Look. Sweat is the first, properly muscular play of the Trump era, directly addressing the political and cultural bedrock of his presidency: Nottage has already won the 2016 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Though the women are friendly with Stan, they do not acknowledge Oscar as he works in the background. 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. 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. 0 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. The play is also set at a pivotal transitional time in American industry, when many longstanding factory jobs were outsourced to other countries (as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA). ASHLAND, Ore. Sweat, the title of Lynn Nottages scorching new play, refers to the hard labor that its characters have put in for decades, only to find their modest livelihoods threatened by the evaporation of manufacturing jobs in America. Through their barroom conversation, the women reveal that Jason has no future plans beyond factory work, and Chris has been accepted to college. Ive absorbed a lotta shit over the years, but I worked hard to get off that floor. Though Cynthia urges her friends to accept the concessions, the floor workers choose to strike. John Earl Jelks SWEAT was originally produced on Broadway at Studio 54 by Stuart Thompson and Louise L. Gund, premiering on March 26, 2017. It makes mewhatever. Jason is horrified to realize that Tracey is highit seems she developed an addiction to pain medication while Jason was in prison. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. You hear from the old gang? Still, Cynthia and Tracey, who both have over 20 years of experience on the warehouse floor, are both set on applying. Stan is now severely disabled with a traumatic brain injury; he struggles to hear or speak. But to get to the heart of the matter: Sweat opens with scenes set in 2008, depicting a parole officer (Tyrone Wilson) in meetings with two ex-convicts, imprisoned for their involvement in the same crime, who have come through the system with deeply divergent results. LitCharts Teacher Editions. The play examines the intersecting stories of workers on strike, three female friends who work together in a plant, and the generational differences between these workers and their sons, Chris and Jason. Ms. Nottageis writing at the peak of her powers NY Times. Longtime friends Cynthia and, Stan comments on the successful nightlots of people turned out for. New York, NY 10016 Tracey Sweat 1 All monologues are property and copyright of their owners. Eventually, everyone but Tracey shows up, and Cynthia and Jessie reminisce about their early days at the factory. Sweat by Lynn Nottage Plot Summary | LitCharts From first moments to last, this . Chris shares that Jason is out too, and Cynthia angrily reflects that Jason is the one who got Chris into trouble. In the bar, Stan and Oscar look on as. The play is set both on the eve and in the twilight of George W. Bushs presidency. Its searing and human. Changing the subject, Tracey tells Oscar that Cynthia only got the promotion because shes black and then makes an offhand comment about Latinx people like Oscar coming to Reading to get jobsbut Oscar says that he was born in Berks County just like Tracey was. So does the presence of Stans helper, Oscar (Carlo Albn), whose family comes from Colombia. 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. Stan enters the room, wiping down tables just as Oscar did in the plays early scenes. Well. Sweat Summary - eNotes.com 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. 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. I don't want this to be a big deal. 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. ISBN 978-1-55936-532-1 for edition reference. When Oscar returns, she hurls racial slurs and goes to lunge at him, but Stan holds her back. 'Sweat' - Lynn Nottage scene: Daniel Oakley (JASON) and Aaron Moore (CHRIS) Daniel 'Joey' Isaac-Meir Oakley 125 views 8 months ago Another Round with SWEAT: Creating a Community On Stage. I know its tough out there, I understand. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. As the strike progresses, the workers grow increasingly desperate. TRACEY: [] It was back when if you worked with your hands people respected you for it. 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. dpsinfo@broadwaylicensing.com. Brucie warns them that no machines means no jobshe thinks theyre about to be in the same situation hes in. Ive taken orders from idiots who were dangerous, or even worse, racist. Waking up, going to the factory, working all day, and coming home. Instant PDF downloads. Tell me about whats been going on. Fucking Wall Street. Sweat is best at its muddiest, when love and hate, and the urges to strike out and to comfort, teeter in precipitous balance. There will always be someone wholl step in, unless we say NO! Federal TaxID#946139640, since 04-1967. Video submission deadline: Sunday, June 20, 11:59 p.m. Small stipend. The soliloquies might just as easily belong to a series of human-interest news features as to a play. She tells Oscar that Olsteads isnt for you.. Well loan you a green screen if you need one. 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. 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. The ensemble is exemplary, so uniformly excellent that I cannot point to a single performance as rising above the rest. 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. urges her friends to meet them halfway unless they want to lose their jobs entirely. Since the twenties, okay? 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. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. CYNTHIA: [] You know after everything. Well. Shes is upset that Cynthia seems to be ignoring her and sucking up to management. Sweat by Lynn Nottage marlenaeckel March 13, 2020 Drama, Medium, Men, Monologue, Short, Women Monologue, Monologues, Theater, Theatre What is it about? You can also copy the link and paste it in your browser. Nottage never tells us whos right or whos wrong, but always shows us whos human. [2] The play premiered at the Oregon They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. You got a problem, you tell me to my face. warns that peoples jobs could be outsourced to Mexico at any moment because of NAFTA. She tells him that she and Tracey no longer speak after everything that happened. Hugging. 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. 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. Tracey and the others are outraged. Forget all that. Cynthia and Tracey worry that Jessies problem with alcohol could get her fired. Esther Intimate Apparel 3 More heat. 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. Change). Scene 2 pans back to 2000. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. to save jobs, and Olsteads will lock them out if they dont accept. Anger. He struggles even with this basic task, and it is clear that Oscar employs him out of empathy, the desire to give Stan a sense of purpose. Anyone can read what you share. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Chris and Jason are clearly apologetic but cant yet bring themselves to verbalize what theyre thinking. She attributes Cynthias selection to tokenism. First and only job. 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. Anyone can read what you share. for only $13.00 $11.05/page. But I stood on line, patiently waiting for a break. 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. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. And to describe the play as a trenchant and insightful analysis of the consequences of the sharp decline in factory work in the country, and the gutting of once-mighty unions, may make it sound like a hortatory tract aimed at raising awareness of the human blight these trends have caused. The scene switches to Evans parole meeting with Chris, a black man whos struggling to integrate back into society since his release because hes ashamed of being a felon and consumed with remorse over what he did. JASON: [] Eleven dollars an hour? If I had pompoms, Id be waving them now. Tracey's Monologue from Sweat | StageAgent Jason (Stephen Michael Spencer), with white-supremacist tattoos etched into his face and neck, reacts with sullen anger to questions about his prospects. 239 0 obj <> endobj document.getElementById('cloak8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e').innerHTML = ''; Chris remembers his fingernails digging into his palms. CYNTHIA: [] let me tell you something, once he started messing with that dope, I dont recognize the man. Nobodys going anywhere. In Reading, Pennsylvania a group of factory workers are living their lives. PERFORMANCE FEE: $130 per performance. As Tracey privately muses over the citys changing landscape, feeling nostalgia for the days when people were honored for working with their hands, Oscar shows her a Spanish-language job posting for Olsteads. The play was produced Off-Broadway in 2016 and on Broadway in 2017. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. These scenes depict Tracey struggling with pill addiction, and Cynthia living in a small, cluttered, low-rent apartment. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 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 Character Analysis in Sweat | LitCharts College/University, Diverse Cast, Ensemble Cast, Mature Audiences, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre. Stan commiserates with Bruciehe spent 28 years at Olsteads and is glad that his injury got him out of there. Ms. Nottage did intensive research for this play, and it shows, perhaps more than it should. They built the house that I live in. To access the monologues, click the highlighted link. The breakup of Jessies marriage has driven her to imbibe more than usual, although Tracey doesnt feel too sympathetic, having weathered her own failed marriage. Lynn Nottage, Tracey is outside the bar smoking. Scene 3. Three exemplary charactersTracey, Cynthia, and Jessieare all working class . 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. TRACEY: [] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. All is well, until economic turmoil hits. Management is for them. 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. But I meancmonyou guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than. Box 663 - Berkeley - California - 94701 Our Answering Service: (510) 649-5999 . Its a tragic story of everyday people struggling to pick up the pieces when their lives fall apart. Sweat is a two-act play written by Lynn Nottage. (including. Make sure to leave suggestions for other plays youd like to see on the blog and Ill see you at the next post! 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. Thus, the flier ominously suggests that the factory managers intend to lay-off their existing staff. Teachers and parents! Ms. Nottages sympathies clearly lie with the workers facing virtual if not literal extinction (there are swipes taken at the North American Free Trade Agreement), but the politics are embedded so deeply in the drama that we never feel the playwright is distorting the plays trajectory to score sociopolitical points. Monologue - Tracey from Sweat - YouTube The play opens in a Reading parole office in 2008, panning back and forth between Jason and Chris. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season 255 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<4E7A45B1E121404A9924C6C88D9A82A6>]/Index[239 26]/Info 238 0 R/Length 81/Prev 701207/Root 240 0 R/Size 265/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream