The Social Justice Players, sponsored by The Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Program, and in coordination with the Chalice Theatre at the UU Church of Arlington (UUCA) and the UU Church of Silver Spring (UUCSS), will be presenting the Pulitzer-Prize-winning play, SWEAT, by Lynn Nottage, to be directed by Bruce McConachie.
There will be six staged-readings of the play in the DC area in October 2019—October 12–13, 19–20, and 26–27.
We are holding open auditions at both UU churches to cast the nine characters in the drama in May of this year. Because the play occurs in two different time periods, 2000 and 2008, most of the actors will play characters who age 8 years over the course of the action. Here is Nottage’s brief description of each character:
EVAN, African-American male, 40s.
JASON, white American male, 21–29.
CHRIS, African-American male, 21–29
STAN, white American male of German descent, 50s
OSCAR, Colombian-American male, 22–30
TRACEY, white American female, 45–53
CYNTHIA, African-American female, 45–53
JESSIE, Italian-American, 40s
BRUCIE, African-American, 40s–mid 50s
Set in Reading, PA, the play follows two families, one white and the other African-American, whose mothers both work in a local factory, and whose sons (like their mothers) are close friends. When the company running the factory turns to union-busting, friendships fray, long-buried racism emerges, and the sons pick a fight with a Hispanic worker temporarily hired at the factory. Stan is badly injured in the fight and the sons go to jail. Eight years later, both sons emerge from jail to find that one of their families has fallen apart and the other one is barely holding on. SWEAT dramatizes the personal costs of national policies in our era of union-busting and deindustrialization. We look forward to lively discussions after all performances.
Audition Times and Places:
Tuesday, May 14: 7:30–9:00 p.m., and Saturday, May 18: 2:00–4:00 p.m. at the UU Church of Arlington
Tuesday, May 21: 7:30–9:00 p.m. and Saturday, May 25: 2:00–4:00 p.m. at the UU Church of Silver Spring
For more information about audition scenes, rehearsal schedule, and any other questions, write or call Bruce McConachie, bamcco@pitt.edu, 412-519-5681.