The Arts Club presents the Canadian premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, in a co-production with Citadel Theatre, in Edmonton.
Sweat is set in the working-class town of Reading, Pennsylvania, and for a group of lifelong friends (played by Marci T. House, Lora Brovold, and Nicole St. Martin), a night at the local bar is the balm against a hard day on the factory lines. When tensions rise at work and picket lines are formed, their bonds wear and the strength of their connection is tested in the struggle to stay ahead. All sides are examined in this community that is formed and dissolved amidst the changing landscape of America.
Nottage began working on the play in 2011 by interviewing residents of Reading, which was one of the poorest cities in America at the time. Influenced by the Occupy Wall Street movement, she examined the loss of heavy industry and a changing ethnic composition. The play premiered in 2015 and remains topical today: The Public Theater’s production of Sweat is currently touring throughout the midwestern U.S. in cities much like the one it depicts, offering free performances in advance of the upcoming midterm elections.
Sweat received three 2017 Tony Award nominations and won for Best Play. In the same year, Sweat was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, making Nottage the first woman to win it twice. Her play Ruined won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
Director Valerie Planche said, “Marci T. House championed this play. Ashlie Corcoran accepted the challenge, the rights were attained, and she and Daryl Cloran (Artistic Director, Citadel Theatre) asked me to direct. From that moment almost a year ago, I have been working with the two companies and my designers to lay the bedrock of this world. Getting the actors into the process brings breath into that world, and what a world it’s proving to be! Edmonton and Vancouver are in for a treat. It’s a strong piece of drama not to be missed.”
SHOWTIMES
October 18–November 18, 2018 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Tue–Thu at 7:30 PM, Fri & Sat at 8 PM, Wed at 1:30 PM, and Sat & Sun at 2 PM
Tickets from $29 at artsclub.com or the Arts Club Box Office at 604.687.1644