sweat lynn nottage tracey monologue

[2] The play premiered at the Oregon Stan warns Oscar that he is putting himself in a dangerous position and stirring animosity among longtime employees. 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. 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). Some of these, such as Traceys speech about the devaluing of manual labor, have a poignant lyricism. %%EOF going to renegotiate the floor workers contracts, and theyre prepared to fight for significant concessions. Shes is upset that Cynthia seems to be ignoring her and sucking up to management. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, (Points to the skin on the back of her hand). 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. On the national news, George Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, is traveling in the Midwest. Jason comments that Oscar is kind to take care of him, and Oscar replies that this is how things should be. Still, Cynthia and Tracey, who both have over 20 years of experience on the warehouse floor, are both set on applying. 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. Though the women are friendly with Stan, they do not acknowledge Oscar as he works in the background. Oscar plays a handheld video game behind the bar. You dont want to go down that road, weve got too much history between us. Besides, Oscar would need to be in the union and to know someone at the plant to get a job there. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville I hope I was able to introduce you to more monologue material! He tells her that hes in a rehab program, which doesnt impress Cynthia. 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. LitCharts Teacher Editions. In September 2008, Jason, a man with white supremacist facial tattoos, meets with Evan, his African American parole officer. CYNTHIA: More money. Jason shows up too, which initially alarms Oscar. Ms. Nottage, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Ruined, her terrific drama about the human cost of a civil war in Africa, has surpassed even that achievement with Sweat, which is making its premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival here in a blazingly well-acted production directed by Kate Whoriskey, who also directed the premiere production of Ruined. (Sweat, co-commissioned by Arena Stage in Washington, opens there in January.). Hugging. Cynthia tells Tracey and Stan about how she recently kicked out her estranged husband, Brucie, againhes been abusing drugs ever since he was locked out of his job at a local textile mill. Stan falls, hits his head on the bar, and lies bleeding on the ground. Lynn Nottages Sweat gives us characters filled with the good and the bad and asks us to reflect on our own views and the views of others. 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. TRACEY: [] It was back when if you worked with your hands people respected you for it. TRACEY: [] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. Thats all I need to know. Such talk brings out Darwinian survival instincts, especially once Cynthia gets a job in management at the factory. View more posts. 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. Well loan you a green screen if you need one. That Cynthia is black and Tracey and Jessie are white becomes an issue in a way it never was before. The full script is available in print and e-book at multiple area libraries. Instead, to Chriss obvious amazement: Were hugging. The flier advertises a much lower wage than Tracey makes, and it does not mention union requirements or benefits. Sweat is by no means a thinly dramatized op-ed piece. Review: Sweat Imagines the Local Bar as a Caldron, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/26/theater/sweat-review-broadway.html, From left, John Earl Jelks, Carlo Albn, Johanna Day, Michelle Wilson and Allison Wright in the play Sweat., From left, Johanna Day, Khris Davis, Carlo Albn and Will Pullen in Sweat.. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Everyone complains about the factory, but the work it has provided for generations of Reading residents shapes the rhyme and reason of their shared world. Learn more. Their conversations with Evan suggest, however, that they participated in the same crime. He apparently did so due to the stress of his failed marriage, debt, and rumors of cutbacks at Olsteads Steel Tubing (the mill where Tracey, Cynthia, and Jessie also work). When the play reaches its climax, we feel so swept up in the fracturing lives of the people onstage that the distance between that world and the real one it reflects with such searing precision has all but collapsed. No one saw that coming. Presiding over Traceys informal birthday party and the subsequent, less festive birthdays of Jessie and Cynthia is Stan (Jack Willis), the bartender, though not the owner of the bar. Thank you for checking out my post! Complex matters of race, class and culture are handled with impeccable deftness. Just as Jessie is vulnerably sharing her unrealized dreams of seeing the world as a young woman, Tracey bursts in. warns that peoples jobs could be outsourced to Mexico at any moment because of NAFTA. 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. It makes meWhatever. CHRIS: Dude, its just something I gotta do. Weve just come Start: Every since her father hung himse Start: The two women begin talking about recent changes at Olsteads: theres an open position for Warehouse Supervisor, and to Traceys surprise, Cynthia is thinking of going for the job. More heat. The parolees are Jason (Will Pullen) and Chris (Khris Davis), and they were once the closest of friends. var addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e = 'auditions' + '@' + 'aeofberkeley' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloak8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e').innerHTML += ''+addy_text8a2f2e70f3ae0d82a8dceea5de10147e+'<\/a>'; Well, my familys been here a long time. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season You can also copy the link and paste it in your browser. 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. The way the content is organized, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. John Earl Jelks SWEAT was originally produced on Broadway at Studio 54 by Stuart Thompson and Louise L. Gund, premiering on March 26, 2017. Make sure to leave suggestions for other plays youd like to see on the blog and Ill see you at the next post! Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. 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. They also discuss Freddy Brunner, an acquaintance who recently burned his own house down. 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. Tell me about whats been going on. to learn more about this monologue from Sweat and unlock other amazing theatre resources! 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. 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. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. However, Cynthia is adamant that she cant give up the opportunity shes been given; Tracey and Jessie dont understand what its like to walk in her shoes. Nobodys going anywhere. Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season It makes mewhatever. 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 breakup of Jessies marriage has driven her to imbibe more than usual, although Tracey doesnt feel too sympathetic, having weathered her own failed marriage. All is well, until economic turmoil hits. Both Tracey and Jessie feel betrayed by Cynthia. 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. In fact Id hold him down for you to give him a proper beating, but Oscarhes another story. (The unobtrusively on-target set is by John Lee Beatty, with costumes in the same vein by Jennifer Moeller.). On July 4, Chris and Jason run into Brucie at the bar, and they tell him that Olsteads moved three mills out of the factory over the holiday weekend. 308 qualified specialists online. Its the year 2000 in Reading, Pennsylvania and a group of friends go to work at the steel mill and then decompress at the bar like theyve been doing for over 20 years. 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). * Live TV from. Generations dictated by the factory floor and the whims of American capitalism: A scene from Sweat, Lynn Nottages new drama, in a production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. For rehearsals and performances youll need a computer, a stable internet connection (at least 3 MBS upload speed), and a quiet performance space, preferably without windows. Jason and Chris solemnly reflect that it is kind of Oscar to take care of Stan. CYNTHIA: Ive stood on that line, same line since I was nineteen. Cynthia begs everyone to stop yelling, but she eventually reveals that Olsteads is going to renegotiate the floor workers contracts: in order to save jobs, there will be a 60-percent pay cut and concessions on benefits. Ive got twenty-four years on the floor. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Tracey and the others are outraged. 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! You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If this is your first time, let us know and well help you through the process. Tracey encourages her son, escalating his confrontation into violence. Anger. "They white,". The play flashes forward to October 2008, a couple of weeks after Jason and Chriss parole meetings. Their steel mill, Olsteads, is making some changes and the blood, sweat and tears, not to mention the generations of loyalty these workers have shown, dont seem to amount to much. STAN: Okay, you keep telling yourself that, but you saw what happened over at Clemmons Technologies. passionate and necessarya masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer usSWEAT communicates its points with minimal fuss and maximum grit. For that reason alone, the arrival on Broadway of Sweat, which originated at the fertile Oregon Shakespeare Festival and was previously staged in New York at the Public Theater, warrants serious applause. Cynthia says she plans to apply, hoping for better opportunities. sweat by lynn nottage dramatists play service inc. sweat.indd 1 1/2/2018 9:40:28 am TRACEY: Stillyou werent born here, Berks. The soliloquies might just as easily belong to a series of human-interest news features as to a play. ISBN 978-1-55936-532-1 for edition reference. But members of the audience may find themselves getting a little moist with anxiety as this extraordinarily moving drama hurtles toward its conclusion with the awful inevitability of Greek tragedy. START: Well. Then, Chris reveals that hes been accepted to Albright Colleges teaching program, which shocks Jasonthey both work on the floor at Olsteads, and Jason always assumed they would retire and open a business together. Ms. Nottageis writing at the peak of her powers NY Times. We can suggest monologues, just ask. Cynthia, who lost her house and now works irregular hours at maintenance jobs, is warm and tearfully apologetic to Christhough Chris doesnt think she has anything to be sorry for. 239 0 obj <> endobj Time commitment: Up to 15 hours directed rehearsing (max 5 rehearsals), 4-8 . Sweat by Lynn Nottage marlenaeckel March 13, 2020 Drama, Medium, Men, Monologue, Short, Women Monologue, Monologues, Theater, Theatre What is it about? Refine any search. Sweat examines the changing lives of factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania, between the years of 2000 and 2008. Theatre lover and actor. Lynn Nottage explains how a broken city gets a turn onstage in her play "Sweat.". Teachers and parents! Writing that cuts this close to the bone draws out the best in actors. hbbd``b`Y $+A H0@caqA,7 $&$$1&F: O ! Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. 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. Our experts can deliver a Lynn Nottage's "Sweat" Play Production essay. Olstead is a prick. 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. Click on the name of the character in that box. I wanna say that. 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.

Mgsv Prisoner Extraction 02 Repeatable, 9 Ways To Prevent Teenage Pregnancy, Washington Golf And Country Club Menu, National Park Brochure Binder, X6 Coventry To Leicester Bus Timetable, Articles S