"Sweat"

How is this play divided?

Two Acts. Seven scenes in Act I, eight scenes (plus a transition) in Act II

Name the characters in this play.

Cynthia, Tracey, Jessie, Chris, Jason, Brucie, Stan, Oscar, Evan

Name the setting.

Reading, Pennsylvania, 2000/2008.

Who wrote the script?

Lynn Nottage

Where do most of the main characters work?

a factory called Olstead's

Where do Stan and Oscar work?

Stan (owner) and Oscar work at a bar that the rest of the characters go to

What's the relationship between Cynthia, Brucie, and Chris?

Cynthia and Brucie are Chris' parents

What's the relationship between Tracey and Jason?

Tracey is Jason's mother

What causes a rift between Tracey, Jessie, Jason, Chris and Cynthia?

Cynthia gets promoted to supervisor at Olstead's, and the factory laid off her friends/son.

What were Chris' plans?

In Act I, scene III, Chris reveals that he got accepted to a teaching program at Albright and plans to go in September

Character description: Jason

close cut haircut, white supremacist tattoos on his face, a black eye at the top of the show. 29

Character description: Evan

"comfortably puffy" black man in his forties, Chris and Jason's parole officer

Character description: Chris

neatly dressed, somewhat fidgety. 29 yr old black man. incredibly smart. former friends with Jason at the top of the show.

Character description: Cynthia

Best friends with Tracey and Jessie. 45 yr old black woman. is out of a relationship with Brucie at the top of the show. knows what she wants and is willing to reach for it

Character description: Tracey

45 year old white woman, bet friends with Cynthia and Jessie. her birthday at the top of the show

Character description: Jessie

Italian American, 40, youngest of their group of three. Always drunk

Character description: Oscar

Colombian American, early twenties/thirty. works clean up at Stan's bar. constantly gets put down by the other characters and is seen as lesser than them. When he reveals he wants to work at Olstead's, the main cast (minus Stan), gets angry at him.

Briefly summarize the play

"In one of the poorest cities in America, Reading, Pennsylvania, a group of down-and-out factory workers struggle to keep their present lives in balance, ignorant of the financial devastation looming in their near future."

What's the climax of the show?

Act II, scene vi. The accident. Jason and Chris beat up Oscar with a bat, and accidentally hit Stan as well.

How does the play end?

Oscar and Chris are at the bar, which Oscar has now taken over as the manager. Jason comes in, but before any words can be spoken between the three of them, Stan enters, severely crippled. The lights black out as the four men attempt to sit in the presence of the others.

What are some themes of this play?

Racism, xenophobia (Tracey at Oscar in the bar when she tells him to go back home), the tumultuous aspects of work environments, the impact of education (or lack thereof) in a community (workers go straight from high school to Olstead's)