Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play SWEAT Opens At ACT April 29

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre today announced complete casting for its production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Lynn Nottage (MJ the Musical, The Secret Life of Bees).

Directed by ACT Artistic Director John Langs with Associate Director Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako, Sweat will run April 29 - May 22, 2022 in ACT's Allen Theatre. Tickets are available online at acttheatre.org.

Originally slated to open ACT's 2020 season, this production of Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Evening Standard Award, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination) takes us to the forgotten heart of America, and tells the story of three women who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. As this group faces the struggles of a fraying economy, layoffs pit them against one another and inequities of race and class fan the flames. MacArthur genius Lynn Nottage infuses this searing script with her trademark mix of compassion, humor, and suspense. It's explosive drama: made in America.

World Premiering at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015, Sweat went on to enjoy a sold out run at The Public Theater in New York before landing on Broadway in 2017. Critics have raved about this play, describing it as "Utterly riveting! Leaves you breathless! A raw, prescient portrait of the American working class." (Entertainment Weekly)

ACT's production of Sweat will feature performances from Anne Allgood (Broadway: Carousel, Beauty And The Beast; 5th Avenue: Beauty and the Beast; ACT: Mary Stuart), Shawn Belyea (Seattle Rep: Dry Powder), Miguel Castellano (Strawberry Theatre Workshop: Take Me Out), Anthony Leroy Fuller (ACT: Pilgrims Musa, Sheri in the New World), Tracy Michelle Hughes (ACT: In The Next Room, The Vibrator Play), Reginald Andre Jackson (ACT: Romeo and Juliet; Seattle Rep: Two Trains Running), Cap Peterson (TV: Shrill, NCIS LA, ER; WET: B), Tré Scott (Wooden O: Twelfth Night), Sara Waisanen (Seattle Shakespeare: Government Inspector).

Director John Langs said, "What we could not know in the waning days of March 2020 when we first felt the effects of what would be a long pandemic, was how the themes of loss, struggle and isolation caused by these world events and keenly reflected in this story were feelings we were all about to experience firsthand. We have all been forced to confront what we could not previously imagine. Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is about what we cling to when the water around us begins to rise, what we reach for when our way of life is completely upended. It speaks to the fear, guilt, and anger that triggers our survival instincts. In desperate times these instincts can lead us far away from who we want to be as individuals and as a country. The true brilliance of this play and why we felt it was a necessary story to tell is that In the web of this story, there is an antidote for troubled times - humor, friendship, and the care we can offer to our families both inherited and chosen!

So, at the end of our first season back from the pandemic and as we climb out of these troubled waters, it is such a gift to return to this story and finally to share it with you."

For the most up-to-date information about what to expect during your visit to ACT, please visit https://acttheatre.org/covid-19/.

Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined has received an Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre). Other plays include Intimate Apparel (New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play; Roundabout Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, South Coast Repertory); Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Obie Award; Playwrights Horizons, London's Tricycle Theatre); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por'knockers, and Poof! Nottage is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant," the National Black Theatre Festival's August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama, and the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists, and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer.

John Langs has served as Artistic Director since 2016. He joined ACT in 2013 as Associate Artistic Director. Langs' 16-year freelance career afforded him the opportunity to work with many prestigious theatre companies across the country. He has directed productions at Playwrights Horizons NY, Ensemble Studio Theater NY, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Lookingglass Theater Company in Chicago, Circle X in Los Angeles, The Resident Ensemble, New Century Theatre Company, Washington Ensemble Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company. Langs received his directing degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Some of his favorite directing credits include The Shaggs Philosophy of the World (Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award for Best Original Musical), and Brothers Karamazov (seven LADCC Awards including Best Production of the year and Best Direction) and directing Kurt Beattie in King Lear. Langs received the first annual Seattle Gregory Award honoring excellence in direction for The Adding Machine. As a dedicated fan of original work, Langs has shepherded over a dozen projects to their premier production.