PicksInSix Review: SWEAT Copley Theatre
Smart, Sharp “SWEAT” Christens Copley Theatre!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy
Art imitated life Wednesday night as the audience was settling in for the grand opening of Copley Theatre, the sparkling, state-of-the-art black box in Aurora where “SWEAT,” Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is playing through April 24. There was no small amount of irony to learn that as the lights were coming up for the show, which tells the story of union-busting activities in Reading, Pennsylvania, Chicago media reporter Rob Feder was about to release that broadcast technicians of Chicago’s IBEW Local Union 1220 had walked out on strike at WTTW, leading to the cancellation of the night’s live local PBS news program.
Labor struggles, and how management decisions impact regional economy, are among the key flashpoints in “SWEAT.” The coincidence is further proof that Nottage’s superb work, which was last seen in a memorable 2019 Goodman Theatre production, continues to strike a timely and vitally relevant social chord for our time: that even as we face the challenge of a global conflict, a fragile economy and ongoing health and safety risks, family, friendship and job security are all critical elements in middle America.
Director Andrea J Dymond ‘s edgy production delivers on the promise that Copley Theatre, the highly anticipated, second jewel in Paramount Theatre’s crown, will be a dynamic new performance destination in Aurora’s revitalized and surging downtown cultural district. The space has been transformed into a thrust stage configuration providing a superb, unobstructed stage perspective, along with exceptional sound and light systems, to create an incomparable audience experience.
In “SWEAT,” Nottage has bookended the show with pivot points and flashbacks between the election season in 2000 and 2008, providing scenes that serve as the framework for the drama that follows the lives of three women—friends and workmates—who have spent decades on the line at the Olstead steel tubing plant. When we first meet Cynthia (Shariba Rivers), Tracey (Linda Gillum) and Jessie (Tiffany Bedwell), they are in the midst of a fun-loving birthday celebration at the unnamed bar managed by Stan (Randy Steinmeyer) and a staffer Oscar (Jordan Anthony Arredondo). In the drunken haze of the party, there is talk of a new supervisor position at the plant that both Cynthia and Tracey are vying for while the women’s sons, Jason (Cage Wallace) and Chris (Emmanuel K. Jackson), who currently work at the plant, speculate about their futures. When Cynthia’s estranged husband Brucie (Joshua L. Green) shows up to reconcile, the women unite in supporting each other.
That mutual show of support erodes and the friendships tarnish when Cynthia is hired over Tracey for the supervisor position. Although Stan tries to keep the peace and rationalize how the plant management operates, it’s clear that things are changing and a serious threat looms to the livelihood of everyone involved. As a consequence, tensions flair which leads to the eventual reality that life in their community will never be the same.
Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s meticulous, gritty bar set is placed at a unique angle in the space that provides exterior views that Dymond’s spirited and talented cast utilize to play close to the audience. Jessica Neill’s stark lighting design combined with Jeffrey Levin’s sound—an array of contemporary news reports and commentary of the time—establish the shifting scenes of the drama and combine to christen the Copley Theatre with a sharp and smart new production in Paramount’s BOLD Series.
PHOTO|Liz Lauren
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