The Main Street Players take audiences to a bar in Reading, Pa. for their production of “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama tackles big issues around the impact of a recession upon a steel mill and its workers during the first decade of this century.
It threads the themes of immigrant labor versus union workers, racism and industrial migration to Mexico together and shows the consequences upon the characters’ lives.
To survive, those nine desperate people turn against each other as they watch their American Dreams fade away.
Director Sefanja Richard Galon hopes local audiences will recognize parallels in the plot to their lives here.
“I hope they can see a world and a place in this city where we can get along better,” Richard Galon said.
Characters’ social circles include three women who are factory lifers; one gal’s husband and two of those workers’ sons.
Also, two bar staffers: Stan, played by Frank Montoto, represents the danger of mill work. The other is an immigrant who will work cheap.
And there is a cop, whose scene reveals the sons’ criminal pasts and foreshadows their futures.
Though the themes are familiar, audiences will relate to how the story is told.
This is a real ensemble cast that supports each other’s performances.
Some of these talented artists will be familiar to audiences from past Playhouse productions.
Laura Argo, who returns after her role in “Rapture, Blister, Burn” last season, plays Tracey. Her character is dislikable, jealous and spews nasty comments.
Kyran Wright starred in the Playhouse’s productions of “Aesop’s Fable-ous Christmas Tree” as a singing elf and played the nephew in Lee Blessing’s “Black Sheep.”
In “Sweat,” Wright hits the mark every time as Chris, one of the sons who can glimpse a future for himself. He is trying to get educated while coping with his family and the struggles of his co-workers and friends.
Warren Welds plays Brucie, whose life is falling apart. Welds delivers some of the best acting of the show.
Jocelyn Lombardo plays Jessie, a tragic character with a drinking problem. Her scene in the middle of Act I about all the places where she wanted to travel is heavy with regret.
The audience will relate when she says, “What if I had gone, and life didn’t get in the way…”
For the first half of Act I, Phillip Andrew Santiago as Oscar, the bar’s busboy is a mostly silent witness to the turmoil underway.
Santiago really shines through the end of that act and into the start of Act II. His performance builds from quiet and calm to explosive in the final scenes.
“Sweat” has adult language and violence.
The 120-minute show is staged in two acts, with a 15-minute intermission.
“Sweat” runs through May 14.
The Main Street Playhouse, 6812 Main St., has an 8 p.m. curtain Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. on Sunday.
General admission is $30 and $25 for students, seniors and military.
To purchase tickets, visit www.mainstreetplayers.com.
In the photo: Seven of the nine-member cast of “Sweat,” the current production at the Miami Lakes Playhouse. Shown from left are Philip Andrew Santiago who plays Oscar; Frank Montoto (Stan); Jocelyn Lombardo (Jessie); Garrett Colon (Jason); Laura Argo (Tracey); Kyran Wright (Chris) and Chasity Hart (as Cynthia). Not pictured are Warren Welds, who plays Brucie and Sterling Tribue (as Evan). Photo provided by Olimac Media.