AUDITION NOTICE:TITLE: SWEAT
AUTHOR: Lynn Nottage
DIRECTOR: Maisha Azadi Sebastiany
RUN: July 20 - August 17, 2024
Fridays & Saturdays 8pm, Sundays at 2pm. Special performances on Thursday and Sunday nights may be added for private parties and special events.
This is a volunteer community theater production. Non-Equity. There is no pay.
AUDITION DATES:
Open Call:
Dates: Tuesday, May 28th and Wednesday, May 29, 2024
(Auditioners only need to come to one night of Open Call Auditions.)
Times: 7pm - 9pm
Location: Long Beach Playhouse
Callbacks: By Invitation Only.
Date: Thursday, May 30, 2024
Times: 7pm - 10pm
REHEARSALS:
First Read-Through: Saturday, June 1, 2024, Noon - 4pm.
Regular Rehearsal: Starting June 3, Monday- Thursday, 7pm-10pm; Saturdays 11am-3pm and Sunday June 5:30-8:30pm.
(Please see beginning rehearsal schedule for specific dates and times.)
Location: Long Beach Playhouse
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:
Bring headshot and resume.
Sides for cold readings will be provided at the auditions.
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Two time Pulitzer Prize Playwright Lynn Nottage’s SWEAT tells the story of a group of working class people in Reading, Pennsylvania who are laid off from their jobs during an upswing of deindustrialization. SWEAT explores the tension within the group portraying how the themes of identity, politics, and race surface within friends now faced with sudden job insecurity.
The play opens in 2008, where we meet Jason and Chris as they individually speak to their parole officer, Evan. A chance encounter between the two former friends brings them back to face the event that completely altered the course of their lives and the lives of those closest to them. As the play switches back to 2000, we meet best friends Tracey, Cynthia, and Jessie who all work together and love to hang out at the local watering hole. The bartender Stan, who used to work at the factory with them until he suffered an injury and the busboy Oscar with rising aspirations. Conflicts emerge as upcoming promotions and rumors of cut wages threaten the friends' loyalty. We are left hoping that the group is able to make amends before any lasting damage is done.
NOTE TO ACTORS: This show contains many racially charged moments and language. The characters of Jason and Tracey in particular use racially charged language. Jason will have to say n****. This role in particular will require an elevated level of maturity. All moments and language will be handled with care. There will be many discussions regarding race, xenophobia, and how Lynn Nottage intended for her work to present these themes, amongst others.
CASTING THE FOLLOWING ROLES:
EVAN (M, 40’s) African American
The parole officer for both Jason and Chris. He is a straight, no chaser kinda guy who believes in tough love and does not back down.
JASON (M, 21/29) White American of German descent.
Chris's best friend and Tracey’s son. He is very proud of himself and his family history. He tends not to be aware of how the way he says things affects others, nor does he care until forced to reflect on himself.
CHRIS (M, 21/29) African-American
Cynthia and Brucie’s son and Jason’s best friend. Trying to navigate his way through a world not built in his favor. He is stuck between following in the footsteps of his father as a factory employee, or heeding his mother’s advice and going to school.
STAN (M, 50s) White American of German descent
Stan is a former steel worker who became a bartender after getting injured at the plant leaving him with a permanent limp. He manages the bar where everyone hangs out and does his very best to keep the collective peace. He is the glue that keeps the group together.
OSCAR (M, 22/30) Colombian-American
An employee of the bar, Oscar is a hardworking young man with aspirations to rise far above his current situation. Always considered an outsider and not afforded many job opportunities, he crosses the picket line when the plant offers more than what he makes at the bar.
TRACEY (F, 45/53) White American of German descent
Jason’s mom and best friend of Cynthia and Jessie. Tracey is a strong willed, quick tongued, no nonsense woman, also one of the hardest workers at Olstead’s. Opinionated and proud of the work her family has done, she has been working at the plant for over twenty years, following her father and grandfather.. Much like her son, she doesn't care if what she says offends you or hurts your feelings. She feels betrayed by Cynthia after she receives a promotion.
CYNTHIA (F, 45/53) African-American
Chris’s mom and best friends with Tracey and Jessie. She is determined to not only do well for herself, but to also see her son Chris do well. She is ambitious and applies for the promotion that moves her up to a managerial position. But when management wants to cut wages, Cynthia finds herself pitted against her friends. Cynthia is compelling and full of layers and fully understands the pressure and importance of being a black woman in a white world.
JESSIE (F, 40’s) Italian-American
Good friend of Cynthia and Tracey. Jessie tries her best to remain neutral between Cynthia and Tracey, but later this neutrality is broken. She struggles with alcohol and inadvertently is often the comic relief with a glass of something always near. She’s forced to reckon with her failed dreams of wanting more for her life after landing job at the plant and never leaving.
BRUCIE (M 40’s) African-American
Chris’s father and Cynthia’s estranged husband. He has fallen on hard times and becomes involved with drugs, although he starts a rehab program. It is revealed that his addiction issues are related to his being fired from his factory job after his union was pushed out.
Event Venue
Long Beach Playhouse, Bel Vista Healthcare Center, 5001 E Anaheim St, Long Beach, CA 90804-3214, United States,Long Beach, California
