No stranger to dramas both heartfelt and heart-rending, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage has written one of her most exquisitely devastating tragedies to date. In 2008 in Reading, PA, one of the poorest cities in America, 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 futures. The powerful crux of this new play is knowing the fate of the characters long before it’s even in their sights. Based on Nottage’s extensive research and interviews with real residents of Reading, Sweat is a topical reflection of the present and the poignant outcome of America’s economic decline. “Keenly observed… this compassionate but clear-eyed play throbs with heartfelt life.” – The New York Times “This compassionate but clear-eyed play throbs with heartfelt life, with characters as complicated as any you’ll encounter at the theater today, and with a nifty ticking time bomb of a plot. That the people onstage are middle-class or lower-middle-class folks – too rarely given ample time on American stages – makes the play all the more vital a contribution to contemporary drama. If I had pompoms, I’d be waving them now.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times “What Nottage captures brilliantly is the way work, however hard or demanding, gives people an identity and purpose. Behind the play’s portrayal of the damage done to individual lives by what Nottage calls ‘the American de-industrial revolution‘ lies a wider picture of collapsing hopes and corporate ruthlessness.” – The Guardian