Anna Burnside reviews a ‘flawlessly constructed piece of drama’.
When Lynn Nottage’s play was first produced off-Broadway in 2016, it explained Trump’s first election. Here, for the urbane New York theatre audience, were the rustbelt residents watching their jobs move south and with them the shared purpose that kept the town together.
Switching between 2000 and 2008, it follows two women and their sons. At the start they all work in Olstead’s steel mill, a union shop. They all drink in the same bar, served by Stan. He worked there too, until he injured his leg. Now he hirples around, wiping tables and acting as the town’s moral compass.
In this flawlessly constructed piece of drama, their frustrations and despair blow up along with their job prospects. The consequences are currently playing golf in Mar-A-Lago.
A powerhouse ensemble cast bring Nottage’s clearly-drawn characters to life. Debbie Korley is a wonderfully brittle Cynthia, proud to be one of the few black workers on the line, elated and then horrified at her promotion to management and what she has to do to her friends and colleagues.
Rudolphe Mdlongwa, as her son Chris, is fly and smart, full of plans that it’s only too clear will never come to fruition. His friend Jason - Lewis MacDougall - has the braggadocio of a young man with no idea that the world to which he feels entitled is about to be locked, bolted and barred.
The action plays out in Francis O’Connor’s spectacular set, with Olstead’s rusting sign, viewed in reverse, as the backdrop. The opening scene, with neon tubes representing the hot metal on the factory lines, is a masterclass in design.
Director Joanna Bowman makes the most of Nottage’s script, keeping the plot lines clear and the pacing crisp. Anyone looking across the Atlantic and wondering how the hell it all happened should buy a ticket.
Sweat performs at Citizens Theatre until May 16, 2026. It then transfers to the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh (27 May-13 June).
Photo by Mihaela Bodlovic.
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