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Sweat runs March 29 through April 13

Pioneer Theatre Company

Pioneer Theatre Company presents Lynn Nottage’s award-winning drama, Sweat, in its Utah regional premiere, running Friday, March 29 – April 13, 2019.

Sweat, which won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, tells the story of a small manufacturing town in Pennsylvania and the lives of nine people – friends, coworkers, mothers and sons, former spouses and lovers – and how they intersect with each other. As their lives change at the factory where they work, so too do the tensions that are mounting at the neighborhood bar. 

Lynn Nottage is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and a screenwriter. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Her most recent play, Mlima’s Tale, premiered at the Public Theater in May 2018. In the spring of 2017, Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination) moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater. It premiered and was jointly commissioned by the Arena Stage and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of their American Revolutions History Cycle. Other plays include By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined(Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award) and Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play.)

“We were fortunate this season to successfully stage the 2017 Tony Award-winning play (Oslo) and now, the 2017 Pulitzer Prize Award-winner and Tony nominated, Sweat,” noted PTC Artistic Director Karen Azenberg. “PTC audiences have a deep appreciation for thoughtful, engaging dramas, and the social relevance and deep relationships of Sweat will be something our audiences talk about long after leaving the theatre.”

Longtime friends and co-workers Tracey and Cynthia are played by MARGOT WHITE and NAFEESA MONROE respectively. White was seen on Broadway in Farinelli and the King, Love, Love, Love, Constellations and Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention as well as on television in “Unforgettable,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Blue Bloods.” She returns to PTC after appearing in the 2001 production of The Three Musketeers. Monroe returns to PTC as Cynthia, a determined woman with success beyond her factory line, which puts her in the crosshairs of her close friends and colleagues. Monroe was seen at PTC in i and on film and television in I’m Through with White Girls, “The Punisher,” “Madam Secretary” and “Blue Bloods.” As a poet, Monroe opened for Jewel, appeared on HBO’s “Def Poetry” and performed alongside bestselling author Neale Donald Walsch.

CALLUM ADAMS plays Jason, the passionate and naïve son of Tracey, while HASSIEM MUHAMMAD plays Chris, the bright and ambitious son of Cynthia. Lifelong friends, both men’s lives have been dramatically and irrevocably changed by the events we see unfolding. Adams trained at the Drama Centre in London and has been seen in “Blue Bloods,” “Episodes,” “The Blacklist,” “Humans,” “Berlin Station” and Megan Leavey. Muhammad recently graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and has appeared in “Madam Secretary” and in the indie feature The Drummer.

CHRISTOPHER DU VAL plays Stan, the bartender who knows the factory workers strength as well as they do. DuVal is Pioneer Theatre Company’s resident stage fight choreographer and has been seen in PTC’s Much Ado About Nothing and One Man, Two Guvnors. He is the Head of the Acting Theatre Program at the University of Utah.

Evan, an insightful worker tasked with supporting difficult transitions, is played by JAY WARD, whose TV credits include “The Night Of,” “The Blacklist,” “Person of Interest,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” The Secret Game (ESPN), “Arrested Development,” “Law & Order” and “Unforgettable.” XAVIER REYES plays Oscar a hardworking but frustrated barback. He has performed in the national tour of Kinky Boots as well as in regional productions of Rent, West Side Story, La Cage aux Folles, Hair and In the Heights.

Jessie, a wishful worker who sometimes stirs the pot, is played by SUSANNA FLORENCE, who returns to PTC after this season’s Oslo and Play-by-Play Art & Class. Other PTC credits include Twelfth Night, King Charles III, Fiddler on the Roof and One Man, Two Guvnors, as well as several other Play-by-Play readings. VINCE MC GILL plays Brucie, Cynthia’s ex-husband who is fighting his own demons but wants to win her back. McGill’s award-winning performances include Paul in Six Degrees of Separation, Floyd in Seven Guitars, Walter Lee in A Raisin in the Sun and Capt. Richard Davenport in A Soldier’s Play.

MARY B. ROBINSON has directed more than 70 productions in New York City and around the country, and returns to PTC after directing The Glass Menagerie, An Inspector Calls and Of Mice and Men. She’s served on the Executive Board of Stage Directors and Choreographers for 15 years and teaches directing in the MFA program at Brooklyn College.

JASON SIMMS returns to create the scenic design for Sweat. He previously has designed The Lion in Winter, The Glass Menagerie and An Inspector Calls.Simms also designs for theaters all over the country and in NYC.

K.L. ALBERTS is in this 31st season with PTC and designs costumes for this production. In addition to large musicals like PTC’s Les Misérables, Alberts has also designed for smaller PTC productions like Of Mice and Men. He frequently works at theaters all over the region including Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Lighting is designed by NYC-based AARON SPIVEY who has worked on Broadway in Aladdin, Motown, The Coast of Utopia, Catch Me If You Can and Tarzan. Spivey also designed for this season’s concert production of La Cage aux Folles.

Sound design is by PATRICK BLEY; hair and makeup designer is AMANDA FRENCH and dramaturg for this production is ALEXANDRA HARBOLD.

WHO:
Pioneer Theatre Company 

WHAT:
SweatBy Lynn Nottage 

WHEN:
March 29 – April 13, 2019 

TIMES:
Mondays – Thursdays, 7:00 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinees, 2:00 p.m. 

WHERE:
Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre300 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 

PRICES:
$30 – $45 in advance, and $5 more when purchased on the day of the show 

MORE INFO:
Box Office: 801-581-6961Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Mon. – Fri.
www.pioneertheatre.org