Photo by Joan Marcus

Congratulations to Ms. Nottage for making history in becoming the first ever female to win multiple Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Furthermore, she has just been inducted into the famed Playwrights' Sidewalk at the 2017 Lucille Lortel Awards. And if that wasn't enough, the play itself has also recently been nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Play," whilst cast members Johanna Day and Michelle Wilson were both nominated for Best "Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play." Congrats to all!

Set in Reading, PA, the play revolves around a local bar and a number of its regulars who work together at the local factory and spend their free time and hard-earned wages together on booze, booze and more booze. When jobs are threatened and factory bosses take advantage of cheaper workers from the local Hispanic community, Sweat exposes the fragile ties that have bound these people in their failing neighbourhood.

With the exception of Alison Wright stepping into the role of Jessie, the entire cast has been together since the off-Broadway premiere at the Public Theater last fall and are now functioning like a well-oiled machine in the Broadway transfer at Studio 54. This accomplished ensemble are delivering emotions so raw and explosive in the new drama that not just sweat, but also blood and tears are flowing at the iconic Broadway venue. A special mention also goes to Khris Davis and Will Pullen, whose portrayals of Chris and Jason, respectively, offer up a master class in acting. We witness these characters in the years 2000 and 2008 and see the dramatic transformations 8 years and a jail sentence can set in motion. Their mental evolutions are complimented by a change in the actors' physicalities and it is astonishing to see on stage, as the plot switches back and forth between the two time periods. Read our interview with Khris Davis HERE.

Indeed many of the characters display traumatic changes in their demeanour as a direct result of the events of the plot - Johanna Day depicts Tracey becoming an addict with heart-wrenching precision, whilst Stan's ultimate fate is portrayed in an equally devastating fashion by James Colby.

The star of this show, however, is playwright Lynn Nottage, who manages to create such character depth in the first act, as well as the strong ties between the 9-character ensemble, only to rip them apart in front of our very eyes in Act II. We've identified with them. They are real people. We care about them and dread the helpless road, down which we know all too well they are headed. Ms. Nottage also cleverly reveals the tragic outcome for the two younger male characters at the beginning of the play, as they converse with their parole officer, but keeps us in suspense as to exactly how they ended up there. This climatic event is slowly revealed through the course of the action set back in 2000 and when the moment finally arrives, it is both difficult to watch and impossible to look away.

There are moments of the most convincing stage violence I have perhaps ever witnessed on Broadway, as well as perhaps the most convincing of inebriated acting to match. Jack Daniels and beer (poured from real working pumps in John Lee Beatty's fine, rotating set) are guzzled down like they are going out of fashion in the local bar. Sweat feels like the real, working class man's edition of "Cheers," where you go to a place where everybody knows your name, but find you can't escape.

A top contender for the Tony Award for Best New play, I can heartily encourage you to experience Sweat for yourselves, especially if you thirst for heavy doses of reality that reflect the current state of the nation.

Click here for tickets to Sweat for performances through to October 22, 2017 at Broadway's Studio 54.

- by Tom Millward