Sweat
Sweat
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by David Storch
Co-Production with Canadian Stage
January 14–February 2, 2020
Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre
26 Berkeley Street, Toronto
BeyonD THE STAGE EVENTS
WINNER OF THE 2017 PULITZER PRIZE IN DRAMA
For twenty years, a group of friends working at a steel mill decompress at the local bar. When rumors surface that the company is considering layoffs and flyers are hung to recruit non-union workers for less money, the war between community and capitalism begins and tensions start destroying not only jobs, but also relationships. Filled with heart and humour, Sweat is a searing examination of industrial decline, race, politics and friendship by one of the U.S.’s most decorated playwrights.
“A must-see! Scorching. Superb. Vital.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES
Showtimes
January 14–February 2, 2020
Previews: January 14 & 15
Tuesday 8:00 pm
Wednesday 1:00 & 8:00 pm
Thursday 8:00pm
Friday 7:00 pm
Saturday 2:00 & 8:00 pm
Sunday 2:00pm
Running Time
Approx. 2 hours and 20 minutes, one intermission.
Ticket Prices
Regular tickets are $49-79. Patrons 29 and under can access $29 C-Stage tickets by becoming a member here.
All Tuesday evening performances are Pay What You Can. PWYC tickets must be purchased in person at the Box Office on the day of performance. Sales begin no earlier than 10am. Maximum two tickets per person. A contribution of $20 is suggested.
Artists and arts administrators can access Canadian Stage tickets for only $29*. Purchase by phone or in person, must show valid arts worker identification.
Prices do not include HST or service charges.
Tickets can be purchased through Canadian Stage either over the phone at (416) 368-3110 or online.
Accessibility
Accessible seating in the Orchestra.
The Berkeley Street Theatre is equipped for assisted listening devices using the Sennheiser Mobile Connect app. There is a limited number of smart phones with the app that our staff can setup for your use. These devices are available on a first come, first served basis before the performance. You will be required to leave a piece of photo I.D. The devices require the use of headphones or earbuds – you can bring your own personal pair, or purchase earbuds from the box office for $3. You can also download the app onto your own smartphone for use during the show. Click here for a PDF version of the instructions on how to download and use the app.
A barrier-free, gender neutral washroom is available for use – it includes a motorized door, grab bars, and an emergency alarm for use in the event that emergency assistance is required.
Cast & Creative Team
Sweat
Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by David Storch
Assistant Directed by Sabryn Rock
Featuring Christopher Allen, Jhonattan Ardila, Peter N. Bailey, Timothy Dowler-Coltman, Kelli Fox, Allegra Fulton, Ron Lea, Ordena Stephens-Thompson & Maurice Dean Wint
Stage Manager Laura Baxter
Assistant Stage Manager Andrea Baggs
Set Designer Ken Mackenzie
Sound Designer Samuel Scott
Lighting Designer Kimberly Purtell
Projection Designer Cameron Davis
Costume Designer Anna Treusch
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN
Chris
For Studio 180: debut. Recent theatre credits include: The Birds and the Bees (Arts Club); Antigone: Fong (Young People’s Theatre); Selfie (Young People’s Theatre); The Birds and The Bees (Western Canada Theatre); The Birds and the Bees (Thousand Islands Playhouse); The Amorous Servant (Odyssey Theatre); The Whipping Man (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre); The Birds and the Bees (Blyth Festival); Julius Caesar, The Comedy of Errors (Canadian Stage); Still (Binocular Theatre); The Adonis Project (The Piece of Mine Festival); Tyson’s Song (Piece of Mine Arts); Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in Action). Christopher is elated to be a part of the telling of this story at Canadian Stage. Awards: Outstanding Performance – Ensemble Theatre for Young Audiences Dora Mavor Moore Award 2018.
JHONATTAN ARDILA
Oscar
For Studio 180: debut. Jhonattan Ardila, born in Colombia and raised in the US, is an actor and has worked in the film industry for close to a decade. After initially responding to an advertisement of extra work online, he fully realized his passion and commitment to the arts when he played Flaco in the theatrical production of Den Of Thieves. Presently, Jhonattan has numerous credits in film and television. Noticing the lack of diversity in roles for minorities and the need for more roles of prominence, Jhonattan took it upon himself to create content. His most recent production, Dreams, which he wrote and directed, premiered at the NY Shorts Film Fest. Recent credits include stints on In The Dark, iZombie, and Jett.
PETER N. BAILEY
Brucie
For Studio 180: debut. Theatre Credits: Other Side of the Game, Cahoots Theatre Co. & Obsidian Theatre, To Kill a Mockingbird, An Ideal Husband, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, A Raisin in the Sun, Come Good Rain, Black Theatre Workshop, Romeo & Juliet, Canadian Stage The Wilberforce Hotel, A World Without Shadows, Jumbo, The Blyth Festival, Gas Girls, New Harlem Productions, A Man A Fish, Persephone Theatre, Fences, The Grand Theatre. Film & TV Credits: Saving Hope (ICF Films), Killjoys, (Temple Street Prod), The Detail, The Lead One Prod. Peter N. Bailey graduated from The Humber Theatre Performance Program in 2003 and is thrilled to be working with Studio 180 and Canadian Stage this season.
TIMOTHY DOWLER-COLTMAN
Jason
For Studio 180: debut. Timothy Dowler-Coltman was born and raised in Edmonton AB, where he performed as a child actor at The Citadel Theatre in Macbeth, Sister Mary Ignatius, The Pillowman, A Christmas Carol and Oliver! as the Artful Dodger (The Citadel Theatre). Tim studied at The National Theatre School of Canada, playing Hamlet in his final year and has performed in Skylight (Berkeley St Theatre/Larry Moss), Vimy (Soulpepper Theatre Co), Punk Rock (Crow’s Theatre), Towards Youth: a play on radical hope (Crow’s Theatre/Project Humanity) as well as Orphans (Coal Mine Theatre). Tim is a graduate of The Canadian Film Centre with Film & TV credits that include CBC’s Frankie Drake, The Depths 3D (Skyward Motion Pictures), Ashram 69 (Triple 7 Films), Boys vs Girls (Windsor College) and Hector (CFC closeup).
KELLI FOX
Tracey
For Studio 180: debut. Kelli Fox is an actor/director with more than 30 years experience on stages across Canada, and in the US, including 13 seasons with the Shaw Festival, and 3 seasons with the Stratford Festival. From fall of 2017 to the spring of 2018 she served as Artistic Associate at Globe Theatre in Regina. Directing credits include Cakewalk (Blyth Festival), The Penelopiad (University of Windsor), Hamlet (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan), The Lonely Diner (Vertigo), The Drowning Girls, Hound of the Baskervilles, Peter and the Starcatcher, A Christmas Carol, I and You (Globe Theatre, Regina), Kitchen Radio (Blyth Festival), The Nerd (Victoria Playhouse, Petrolia), Boston Marriage and Man to Man (Headstrong Collective), and This Wide Night (Summerworks 2013). Kelli has been recognized with a Jessie award (Keely & Du, Arts Club/Canadian Stage), a Dora nomination (Top Girls, Soulpepper), a Capitol Critics Circle award (A Room of One’s Own, Shaw tour), a Toronto Critic’s Circle award (Penelopiad, Nightwood Theatre), as well as sharing a Dora with the Penelopiad ensemble. She was the 2016 recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Prize recognizing emerging directors transitioning mid-career.
ALLEGRA FULTON
Jessie
For Studio 180: debut. Allegra Fulton is an award-winning actress whose distinguished career on stage and screen has taken her across Canada, the US, and Europe, where she is also known as a director. She has appeared in leading roles in theatres from Stratford to Soulpepper and is well known for her haunting portrayal of Frida Kahlo in her solo tour-deforce performance of Montero’s FRIDA K., which toured internationally. Recent work includes Amanda in The Glass Menagerie and Sex (Shaw Festival), Dinner with the Duchess (Next Stage Festival), and on screen, Oscar winning Best Picture The Shape of Water, Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, Suits, Fargo, Cardinal, Schitt’s Creek, Wayne, Workin’ Mom’s, Kim’s Convenience and a recurring role in International Emmy award winning 19-2. www.allegrafulton.com
RON LEA
Stan
For Studio 180: My Name is Asher Lev. Ron is very excited to be making his Canadian Stage debut. Ron has worked in many theatres across the country over the last 40 years. Recent credits include; Kill the Poor (Assembly Theatre), My Name Is Asher Lev (Studio 180/Harold Green Jewish Theatre), First Dates (the Toronto Fringe). Select credits include Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), August (Alberta Theatre Projects), December Man (Green Thumb Theatre/Prairie Theatre Exchange). Betrayal at WJT, Motel Plays (Factory Theatre), and One Eyed Kings (Tarragon Theatre), and many shows at Centaur Theatre. Ron is a 2 time “My Entertainment Awards” nominee, and has worked extensively in Film and Television, and is an ACTRA award winner and 5 time nominee.
ORDENA STEPHENS-THOMPSON
Cynthia
For Studio 180: debut. Ordena Stephens-Thompson is very happy to be back at Canadian Stage performing in Sweat. Her most recent theatre credits include, Fences (Grand Theatre), Harlem Duet (Tarragon Theatre), Risky Phil (YPT), Other Side of the Game (Cahoots/Obsidian Theatre), For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf (Soulpepper Theatre), How Black Mothers Say I Love You (Factory Theatre). Selected television and film credits include: Umbrella Academy, The Handmaid’s Tale, Designated Survivor, da kink in my hair, Rookie Blue, Committed and The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe. Ordena is grateful for the opportunity to continue to pursue her passion and for the continued support of her loving family.
MAURICE DEAN WINT
Evan
For Studio 180: debut. Select acting credits include: A&R Angels, Serpent Kills (Crow’s); The Postman (Panamania Toronto, Appledore Prods.); Yankee Tavern (Grand Theatre); Life of Jude (Theatre Passe Muraille); Courageous (Dora Recipient), Capture Me, The Radiance of the King, Fortune and Men’s Eyes (Tarragon/Citadel); The Real McCoy, Where is Kabuki (Factory Theatre/GCTC); Donut City (Canadian Stage); Titus Andronicus (Theatre WUM – Dora nomination). Television credits include: Diggstown, Shoot the Messenger, Haven, Regenesis, PSI Factor, Tekwar and Blue Murder (Gemini Nomination). Films: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Cube, Curtis’s Charm, Rude, Tangled, The Sweetest Gift (Gemini nomination), Robocop: Prime Directives. Guest appearances include Suits, Murdoch Mysteries, Transporter: The Series, Flashpoint, Heartland, The Listener, The Border, Bloodletting, A Taste of Shakespeare, and the Outer Limits.
DAVID STORCH
Director
For Studio 180: The Nether and The Overwhelming. Directing credits include: Instructions to Any Future Socialist Government Wishing to Abolish Christmas (The Coal Mine Theatre); The Road to Mecca, Speed-the-Plow and Glengarry Glen Ross (Soulpepper Theatre); Bunsch-o-Munsch, Munsch-o-Mania, I’m So Munsch (George Brown Theatre); Robin Hood and Metamorphoses (Globe); The Hours That Remain (New Harlem Productions and Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company); Misery, A Number, Take Me Out (co-directed with Morris Panych), Omnium Gatherum, Twelfth Night, Beard of Avon, Sunday Father and Palace of the End (Canadian Stage); The Goat, Blue/Orange, Einstein’s Gift, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Citadel); Art (Arts Club). Recent acting credits include: Picture This, Noises Off (Soulpepper); The Boy in the Moon (Crow’s Theatre); Cake/Dirt, In the Next Room, The Misanthrope (Tarragon); Arigato, Tokyo (Buddies); Mr. Marmalade (Outside the March).
SABRYN ROCK*
Assistant Director
For Studio 180: debut. Sabryn is an actor, singer, arts educator and budding director originally from Regina, Saskatchewan. She directed the site specific production of Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman at The Summerworks Festival that took place on a city bus, has directed youth in Musical Stage Company’s One Song Glory as well as abridged versions of The Tempest & As you Like It for Shakespeare in Action. She also has assisted on several productions including Intimate Apparel (Obsidian), The Wizard of Oz (YPT) and most recently Next to Normal (MSC/Mirvish). Earlier this year she staged and directed the Banks Prize Cabaret for the Musical Stage Company. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, The Birmingham Conservatory at Stratford and the Canadian Film Centre’s Actors’ Conservatory.
*This position was made possible through the RBC Emerging Artists Program.
LYNN NOTTAGE
Playwright
Lynn Nottage is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and a screenwriter. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Her most recent play, Mlima’s Tale, premiered at the Public Theater in May 2018. In the spring of 2017, Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination) moved to Broadway after a sold out run at The Public Theater. It premiered and was commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage. Other plays include By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award), Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play), Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award), Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Las Meninas, Mud, River, Stone, Por’knockers and POOF!. She developed This is Reading, a performance installation based on two years of interviews, at the Franklin Street, Reading Railroad Station in Reading, PA in July 2017. She is working with composer Ricky Ian Gordon on adapting her play Intimate Apparel into an opera, commissioned by The Met/LCT. She is currently an artist-in-residence at the Park Avenue Armory.
LAURA BAXTER
Stage Manager
For Studio 180 Theatre: Oslo, My Name is Asher Lev, My Night With Reg, You Will Remember Me, NSFW, God of Carnage, Clybourne Park. Other selected theatre credits: Black Boys, The 20th of November, Arigato Tokyo, Obaaberima, The Maids, The Silicone Diaries, Breakfast, (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), Actually (Obsidian/ Harold Green), The Story, Tails From the City, Happy Days (Common Boots Theatre), Trout Stanley, Little Pretty and the Exceptional, Age of Arousal (Factory Theatre), Elle (Theatre Passe Muraille), I Call myself Princess (Cahoots/Paper Canoe/Native Earth), Sweat, Love and Information, Venus in Fur, 7 seasons of Shakespeare in High Park (CanadianStage), Soliciting Temptation, More Fine Girls (Tarragon Theatre), The Berlin Blues, Ipperwash (Blyth Festival), Speaking in Tongues, Festen (The Company Theatre), A Christmas Carol, The Story, Macbeth (Caravan Farm Theatre). Laura is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, 2005. Thank you to my amazing wife Shawn for all your love and support.
ANDREA BAGGS
Assistant Stage Manager
For Studio 180 Theatre: debut. Select Credits: Trace (National Arts Centre / Factory Theatre); The Runner (Human Cargo); 2 Pianos 4 Hands ( Marquis Entertainment); Charlotte: A Tri-Coloured Play with Music (Theaturtle; European tour); Beautiful Man (Factory Theatre); Mary’s Wedding (Crow’s Theatre/Solo Productions); Mary Poppins (Young People’s Theatre); The Last Party (Fringe Festival); The Drawer Boy (Theatre Passe Muraille); Rumpsringa Break! (Next Stage Theatre Festival); Freedom Singer (Project:Humanity; National Tour); Banana Boys (Factory Theatre); The Sound of Music (Opera on the Avalon); Sisters (Soulpepper Theatre Company), Constellations, Hamlet/All’s Well That End’s Well, Botticelli in the Fire/Sunday in Sodom, Domesticated, Tragedy of Caesar/Comedy of Errors (Canadian Stage Company).
KEN MACKENZIE
Set & Costume Designer
For Studio 180: Oslo. Ken is a set and costume designer, actor, director, and resident artist at Soulpepper. For Soulpepper⎯Costume Designer: Bed and Breakfast; Lighting Designer: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Peter Pan (with Bad Hats), The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine; Performer & Production Designer: (re)Birth: E.E. Cummings in Song; Set & Lighting Designer: Spoon River, The Just, Cowboy Versus Samurai, The Heidi Chronicles; Co-Creator: Alligator Pie; Set & Costume Designer: Animal Farm, Kim’s Convenience, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Set Designer: The 39 Steps, Bedroom Farce, The Norman Conquests, Oh What a Lovely War. Other theatre⎯Set Designer: Angels in America (Arts Club); Brantwood (Theatre Sheridan). Graduate of the Soulpepper Academy.
SAMUEL SCOTT
Sound Designer
For Studio 180: debut. Theatre: Cowboy Versus Samurai. Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Road To Mecca (Soulpepper), Mr. Burns, Vitals (Outside The March), Fury, Falling: A Wake, Beyond The Farm Show (Blyth Festival Theatre), Paolozza-pedia (Bad New Days), As You Like It / Titus Andronicus (Canadian Stage’s Shakespeare In The Park), Boy in the Moon (GCTC), Passion Play (OtM/Convergence/SheepNoWool), The Speedy (Harbourfront), Hours That Remain (Saskatchewan Native Theatre). Film and Television: Vitals (2015), The Factory Shorts (Writer/Director, 2016).
KIMBERLY PURTELL
Lighting Designer
For Studio 180: (selected) My Name is Asher Lev, My Night With Reg, You Will Remember Me, God of Carnage, Stuff Happens. Kimberly is a Toronto based lighting designer for theatre, opera and dance and is thrilled to be working with Studio 180 once again. Her designs have been critically acclaimed across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Prague, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Moscow and Mongolia. She has designed for the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Philadelphia, Arena Stage in Washington DC,Tapestry Opera, Hamilton Opera, Edmonton Opera, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Place des Arts among many others. She has also designed productions for the Pan Am Games and the Vancouver and Beijing Cultural Olympiads. Kimberly has been nominated for numerous awards and has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Pauline McGibbon Award, a`Sterling Award, and a Montreal English Theatre Award.
CAMERON DAVIS
Projection Designer
For Studio 180: Oslo. Projection design credits include: The Magician’s Nephew, Dracula, You Never Can Tell, Sweet Charity (Shaw Festival); A Christmas Carol (Ross Petty Productions); The Enchanted Loom, Ultrasound (Cahoots Theatre); Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pacific Opera Victoria); Up The Garden Path (Obsidian Theatre); The Gay Heritage Project (Buddies in Bad Times/Canadian tour); Domesticated (Company Theatre); Life, Death and the Blues, Crash (Theatre Passe Muraille); Watching Glory Die (Canadian Rep Theatre); Yukonstyle, Cruel and Tender (Canadian Stage); Feng Yi Ting (Luminato Festival, Lincoln Center, Spoleto Festival USA); Dance Marathon (bluemouth inc). Lighting design credits include: How Do I Love Thee? (Canadian Rep Theatre); They Say He Fell, Birth (Pandemic Theatre). Cameron teaches projection design at the National Theatre School of Canada.
ANNA TREUSCH
Costume Designer
For Studio 180: Debut. Anna is a multiple Dora award winning Set and Costume Designer. Some recent credits include: Much Ado about Nothing (Canadian Stage), Figaro’s Wedding ( Against the Grain), Between Riverside and Crazy, The Father, Superior Donuts and others (Coal Mine Theatre), Under The Stairs (Young People’s Theatre), Calpurnia (Nightwood), The Canadian, Million Dollar Quartet (Thousand Islands Playhouse). Anna has worked with other companies such as: Obsidian Theatre, Native Earth, Factory Theatre, Theatre St. Johns, National Arts Centre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Banff Centre for Arts, Common Boots, Great Canadian Theatre Company, among others.
Sweat
By Lynn Nottage
January 14—February 2, 2020
Wednesday matinées: January 22 & 29 at 1:00 p.m.
Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre
26 Berkeley Street
Toronto, ON M5A 2W3
BOOK NOW!
Student group rate: $20* (student groups of 10+, 1 complimentary teacher ticket per 20 students)
* Subsidized by Studio 180 Theatre
Recommended for: Grades 9-12
Perfect for: Drama, English, Writer’s Craft, History, Civics, Politics, Gender and Race Studies
Content Warning: This play includes mature themes of poverty, addiction, racism and xenophobia. It contains very strong language including swearing, race and gender-based slurs and some sexual references. Extreme physical violence is acted out onstage.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, one intermission.
Sweat Study guide
Reading, Pennsylvania at the start of the new millenium. For twenty years, a group of friends working at a steel mill decompress at the local bar. When rumors surface that the company is considering layoffs and flyers are hung to recruit non-union workers for less money, the war between community and capitalism begins and tensions start destroying not only jobs, but also relationships. Filled with heart and humour, Sweat is a searing examination of industrial decline, race, class, power, politics and friendship by one of America’s most decorated playwrights.
“A must-see! Scorching. Superb. Vital.”
– THE NEW YORK TIMES
Your experience at the theatre includes…
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- A comprehensive study guide complete with background information and pre- and post-show discussion questions and activities
- A talkback with cast members
- Complimentary teacher tickets
Enhance your experience with a Studio 180 IN CLASS workshop.
Cost not included in ticket price. Subsidies available. Apply today.
