Impassioned performances animate Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Sweat' at Goodman Theatre

Posted March 20, 2019 12:00 pm

Kirsten Fitzgerald, left, Tyla Abercrumbie and Chaon Cross play co-workers whose friendship is tested by the threat of layoffs in Goodman Theatre's revival of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sweat.” Courtesy of Liz Lauren

“Sweat” - ★ ★ ★

“Do you know what it's like to get up and have no place to go?”

That query from a factory worker facing the loss of the only job she's ever had reveals a great deal about the precariously employed characters in Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sweat,” a fervent, clearsighted examination of American dreams expiring in the Rust Belt now in its Chicago-area premiere at Goodman Theatre.

The 40-something Tracey isn't just referring to the loss of her livelihood: a laborious but well-paying union job with benefits that promised a middle-class life and a comfortable retirement. She's also referring to collateral damage - the loss of identity and purpose, diminished self-worth, fractured friendships and lost opportunities - that accompanies layoffs and lockouts.

Much has been made about how “Sweat,” which premiered in 2015 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and opened on Broadway in early 2016, anticipated what pundits described as the voter anger and resentment that helped elect Donald Trump. A colleague pointed out during Monday's opening of “Sweat,” however, that outrage over slashed wages, hobbled unions and outsourced jobs surfaced decades before the 2016 election.

“I think we forget that we're meant to pick up and go when the well runs dry ... You gotta ask yourself what you're hanging on to,” says character Stan, a third-generation union man sidelined by a workplace accident who now tends bar and dispenses advice his patrons fail to follow.

Third-generation textile worker Tracey (Kirsten Fitzgerald), right, and her son Jason (Mike Cherry) worry about factory cutbacks in director Ron OJ Parson's production of "Sweat" for Goodman Theatre. Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Not that you blame them. It's not easy to pick up and go when you're a second- or third-generation laborer who believed hard work and loyalty would ensure a steady paycheck and a pension. That's the dilemma Nottage's characters encounter in director Ron OJ Parson's ardently acted production of this almost-great play, which taps into the desperation and barely contained rage of people watching helplessly as their solidly middle-class lives crumble.

Set in the impoverished Reading, Pennsylvania, the play opens in 2008 with recent parolees Jason (Mike Cherry) and Chris (Edgar Miguel Sanchez) - former friends and co-workers turned co-defendants in an unspecified crime - meeting separately with their parole officer (Ronald L. Conner).

Soon after, the play flashes back to 2000 and the aging, blue-collar bar where most of the action unfolds under the wary eye of Keith Kupferer's Stan. Jason's mom, Tracey (the bracing Kirsten Fitzgerald), is celebrating her birthday with best friends and textile mill co-workers Cynthia (a wonderfully nuanced Tyla Abercrumbie), mother of college-bound Chris, and the hard-drinking Jessie (Chaon Cross).

Locked out from his factory job for nearly two years, Brucie (Andre Teamer), left, receives comfort from his son and fellow union member Chris (Edgar Miguel Sanchez) in Goodman Theatre's "Sweat." Courtesy of Liz Lauren

The conversation shifts to rumored layoffs, which the women dismiss despite the looming downturn, evidenced by Cynthia's ex-husband Brucie (Andre Teamer) whose union has been locked out for nearly two years over a labor dispute.

Shortly after Cynthia receives a long-desired promotion, cutbacks begin. After the union rejects management's offered wage cuts, the company hires temporary workers. Among them is barback Oscar (Steve Casillas), whose acceptance of a factory job sparks a confrontation that ends tragically - as we knew it would.

Nottage is a lovely writer. Her dialogue is vivid. Her stage directions are eloquent as evidenced by the following: “The four men, uneasy in their bodies, await the next moment in a fractured togetherness.”

Oscar (Steve Casillas), left, informs his boss Stan (Keith Kupferer) that he's taking a factory job for a fraction of the wages offered locked-out union workers in Goodman Theatre's production of "Sweat." Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Nottage treats her characters with empathy and compassion but casts a critical eye on their arrogance, intransigence and not-so-subtle racism. They are familiar and authentically ambivalent. And she generously provides each with a soliloquy. The pained musings of Abercrumbie's well-intentioned Cynthia on her promotion and the possible motive behind it and Fitzgerald's Tracey reflecting on the now disregarded contributions of her craftsman grandfather are among the play's most moving moments. But these mostly expositional monologues sometimes feel like talking points in this socially conscious critique of vulture capitalism that often feels overstuffed.

That said, the performances are strong throughout, with Abercrumbie particularly impressive as a woman trying to balance self-preservation and loyalty.

Location: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, through April 14. Also 2 p.m. March 21 and April 11 and 7:30 p.m. April 9. No 7:30 p.m. show April 7 and 14

Tickets: $20-$80

Running time: About 2 hours 30 minutes, with intermission

Parking: $22 with Goodman validation at the Government Self Park at Lake and Clark streets

Rating: For adults; includes mature language and subject matter and violence

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