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Sweat

by Lynn Nottage | Directed by Kimberly Senior
Extended by popular demand | Jan. 31 – Mar. 1, 2020
Huntington Avenue Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue

The Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated Best Play by Lynn Nottage (Ruined) comes alive in a moving and urgently relevant new production directed by Kimberly Senior (The Niceties). Based on interviews with the residents of Reading, Pennsylvania, a group of close friends struggle to stay connected when their factory is at risk of collapse. In a neighborhood bar, each of them reaches for their piece of the American dream. Can their friendships survive this test? Nottage weaves a tale of trust and doubt, longtime bonds and short-term possibilities. The New York Times raves, “Superb… Nottage is writing at the peak of her powers.”

Please note: Sweat plays in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, with one ten-minute intermission. This production includes the smoking of cocoa shell cigarettes (100% nicotine free). Learn more about content advisories for this production.



Video

Articles

  • Reading, PA, But it could be anywhere: The Writing of Sweat

    For two and a half years, playwright Lynn Nottage visited Reading, Pennsylvania (pronounced RED-ing) to sit down and listen to people’s stories. Drawn in by Reading’s designation as the poorest city in America for its size, Nottage spent weeks talking to business owners, public officials, police chiefs, social workers, and more. Under commission by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Nottage knew she wanted to write a play about how poverty and economic stagnation were shifting the American narrative, but she didn’t yet know what story she’d be telling as she made her way to Reading for the first time in 2012. 

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  • What Happened?: How we got from 2000 to 2020

    In a country as divided as America feels right now, moments of genuine connection and understanding with people outside of our regular social circles feels rare, if not impossible. This very feeling is what makes Lynn Nottage’s Sweat at such a moving play to witness. For some in Boston, steelworkers in Reading, Pennsylvania feel far removed from our daily trials and tribulations. And yet, both our actions — the ways we vote, consume, protest, live — and their actions affect us all.

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  • A beleaguered factory town helped Lynn Nottage tell the story of ‘Sweat’

    In 2011, the playwright Lynn Nottage received a letter from a friend, a single mother of two who lived on her Brooklyn block, that crystallized the depth of the country’s crippling economic downturn and its effects on the middle class.

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  • Watertown’s Ted Hewlett is behind the action when fights break out onstage in Huntington’s ‘Sweat’

    What happens to a factory town when there is no more factory? Playwright Lynn Nottage explores that and more in her Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat, which will be given its Boston premiere by the Huntington Theatre Company beginning Jan. 31 at the Huntington Avenue Theatre.

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  • Rage and Laughter, 'Sweat' and Tears: Jennifer Regan on Lynn Nottage's Play About American Workers Betrayed

    With newspapers trumpeting low unemployment stats every day, there's more than a little disconnect to the other headlines we see: Layoffs, crippling debt, hollowed-out towns in middle America, the ongoing opioid addiction crises, and — so the received wisdom goes — the voter rage that ushered the current president into office, rage with roots in American workers feeling forsaken and abandoned by politics as usual and desperate for something new.

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Press Reviews

"A KNOCKOUT PRODUCTION! Brilliant, viscerally emotional and hyper-relevant!" — Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce's Choices
"Gritty, emotive, and explosive. It would be hard to conjure a theatre piece that’s timelier than Sweat." — WBUR's The ARTery
"A superb, vital contribution to contemporary drama that could not be more timely." — The New York Times
"Passionate and necessary... A masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer us." — Time Out New York
"A raw, prescient portrait of the American working class. A heartbreaking glimpse into the domino effect of what happens when life as you know it is pulled out from under you." — Entertainment Weekly
"Extraordinarily moving drama." — The New York Times
"Lynn Nottage goes into the heart of working-class America." — Variety
"A Greek tragedy whose gods have been replaced by unseen corporate moguls." — Time Out Chicago
"RIVETING! Leaves you Breathless." — Entertainment Weekly
"A truly important play with considerable humor." — Los Angeles Daily News
"A MUST-SEE! SCORCHING. SUPERB. VITAL." — The New York Times
"Breathtakingly timely." — The Wall Street Journal
More Reviews

Artists

  • Lynn Nottage Playwright Lynn Nottage Playwright
  • Kimberly Senior Director Kimberly Senior Director
  • Tyla Abercrumbie Cynthia Tyla Abercrumbie Cynthia
  • Marianna Bassham Jessie Marianna Bassham Jessie
  • Brandon G. Green Chris Brandon G. Green Chris
  • Alvin Keith Brucie Alvin Keith Brucie
  • Shane Kenyon Jason Shane Kenyon Jason
  • Maurice Emmanuel Parent Evan Maurice Emmanuel Parent Evan
  • Jennifer Regan Tracey Jennifer Regan Tracey
  • Tommy Rivera-Vega Oscar Tommy Rivera-Vega Oscar
  • Guy Van Swearingen Stan Guy Van Swearingen Stan
  • Cameron Anderson Scenic Design Cameron Anderson Scenic Design
  • Junghyun Georgia Lee Costume Design Junghyun Georgia Lee Costume Design
  • D.M. Wood Lighting Design D.M. Wood Lighting Design
  • Pornchanok Kanchanabanca Original Music & Sound Design Pornchanok Kanchanabanca Original Music & Sound Design
  • Ted Hewlett Fight Director Ted Hewlett Fight Director
  • Alaine Alldaffer Casting Alaine Alldaffer Casting
  • Emily F. McMullen Production Stage Manager Emily F. McMullen Production Stage Manager
  • Kelsy Durkin Stage Manager Kelsy Durkin Stage Manager
  • Sam Layco Stage Manager Sam Layco Stage Manager

Prices & Seating


 Section
Performance Day AA A B C D
PEAK: Friday & Saturday evening;
Sunday matinee		 $115 $95 $79 $65 $25
OFF PEAK: Sunday - Thursday evening;
Saturday matinee		 $99 $85 $69 $55 $25
FIRST LOOK: First Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Tuesday evening; Wednesday matinee $89 $75 $59 $49 $25
PEAK: Friday & Saturday evening; Sunday matinee
Section
Price
AA
$115
A
$95
B
$79
C
$65
D
$25
OFF PEAK: Sunday - Thursday evening; Saturday matinee
Section
Price
AA
$99
A
$85
B
$69
C
$55
D
$25
FIRST LOOK: First Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Tuesday evening; Wednesday matinee
Section
Price
AA
$89
A
$75
B
$59
C
$49
D
$25

Ticket price includes a $4.00 Capital Enhancement Fee. Prices may vary and are subject to change at any time.

View Seating Chart  |  Get Directions

Discount Ticket Prices

  Prices
Active Military and Veterans and Immediate Families
 $20 with promo code MILITARY
Student (25 years and younger)
(No AA)		 $20
Section D (Huntington Avenue Theatre);
Last Row (Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA)
Additional discounts may not be applied to section D seats at the Huntington Avenue Theatre and last row seats at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.		 $25
35 Below (35 years and younger)
(No AA or Zone 1)
Learn more about our 35 Below program		 $30

Learn more about our Discount Ticket Programs


 Section
Performance Day AA A B C D
PEAK: Friday & Saturday evening;
Sunday matinee		 $115 $95 $79 $65 $25
OFF PEAK: Sunday - Thursday evening;
Saturday matinee		 $99 $85 $69 $55 $25
FIRST LOOK: First Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Tuesday evening; Wednesday matinee $89 $75 $59 $49 $25
PEAK: Friday & Saturday evening; Sunday matinee
Section
Price
AA
$115
A
$95
B
$79
C
$65
D
$25
OFF PEAK: Sunday - Thursday evening; Saturday matinee
Section
Price
AA
$99
A
$85
B
$69
C
$55
D
$25
FIRST LOOK: First Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Tuesday evening; Wednesday matinee
Section
Price
AA
$89
A
$75
B
$59
C
$49
D
$25

Ticket price includes a $4.00 Capital Enhancement Fee. Prices may vary and are subject to change at any time.

View Seating Chart  |  Get Directions

Discount Ticket Prices

  Prices
Active Military and Veterans and Immediate Families
 $20 with promo code MILITARY
Student (25 years and younger)
(No AA)		 $20
Section D (Huntington Avenue Theatre);
Last Row (Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA)
Additional discounts may not be applied to section D seats at the Huntington Avenue Theatre and last row seats at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.		 $25
35 Below (35 years and younger)
(No AA or Zone 1)
Learn more about our 35 Below program		 $30

Learn more about our Discount Ticket Programs

Seatmap

Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre: 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02115
South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA: 527 Tremont Street, Boston MA 02116
Main: 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02115 | 617 266 7900 |
TICKETING SERVICES 617 266 0800

Best of Boston 2019

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