Sweat: Royal Exchange, Manchester
Lynne Nottage’s Pullitzer prize winning drama I’d not seen before, so I was unsure
what to expect. But I was struck by the sense of responsibility this piece of theatre
has, to provide a snapshot of real lives, and how well this production shouldered that
responsibility.
Set in both 2000 and 2008, the story jumps between past and present, explaining
how all of the characters’ lives in a small town in Pennsylvania change inexorably
during that time frame. Against a backdrop of a Bush administration, the Lehman
Brothers financial crisis and ordinary residents in industrial towns across America
suffering redundancies and worse, this play invites you in to view the lives of those
residents and the impact the changing economic climate had on them socially.
Best friends Tracey (Pooky Quesnel) and Cynthia (Carla Henry) work at the local
factory. They have always worked there, as have their fathers, and their sons are
both just starting out there too. To have a job there is to be part of the ‘in’ crowd. You
don’t interview to work there, you have to know the right people.
Cynthia dreams of more than working on the factory floor, and when a supervisory role comes up she goes for it, also encouraging Tracey to go for it too. Problem is, Cynthia gets the job, causing ructions not just with Tracey but with her other friends and co-workers too. And when the political and economic landscape begins to change, the impact ripples through the staff at all levels and tensions run high.
The script is clever, funny at times, on occasion there’s a gasp out loud from the
audience when a particularly poignant or offensive line is spoken, but what came
across most is the sense of tension building. It builds for a very, very long time. At
the end of the first half it feels like something big is coming, that there must be a
major event in the offing, but re-joining the play in the second half the energy was
almost exactly the same.
The characters in Sweat go on a big journey, and though each individual role was played well, I am not sure that the deep feelings the production wished to conjure were quite there. When the major event finally happens, it seems like a little bit of an anti-climax. Running at 2 hours 30, the production doesn’t so much feel like it takes its time to get going; it’s more that once it has got going it doesn’t quite take us up to the edge and tip us over.
The set is interesting – the Royal Exchange is in the round, and has an industrial feel
to it, making this a fitting environment for the show, but I wonder if some of the
claustrophobia that the characters are feeling is lost in translation due to how easy it
is to get on and off stage, that they are often not physically that close, projecting their
non-mic’d voices (albeit beautifully) in a way that does not allow for those intimate
moments.
The use of props, particularly in the bar scenes is fantastic; bar manager Stan
(Jonathan Kerrigan – Heartbeat, Casualty) and bar tender Oscar (Marcello Cruz)
spend a lot of time undertaking the general ‘business’ of running a bar – opening
beers, clearing away, tidying up, cleaning. It is fascinating to watch and beautifully
choreographed. The bar scenes feel natural and this is in no small part down to both
who play their roles in a very real and genuine way.
There are some stand out performances in this show, in particular Carla Henry playing
Cynthia, her alcoholic, doped up husband Brucie (Chris Jack) and Abdul Sessay who
plays their son. This trio work brilliantly together, and this was a strong professional
stage debut by Sessay having graduated from Guildhall in 2023.
This is a clever, well organised and choreographed version of a fascinating snapshot
into recent American history, by Olivier award winning director Jade Lewis, and something that I am glad to have seen.
Jennie Eyres
Sweat runs at the Manchester Royal Exchange until 25th May 2024.
http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/sweat