A local bar and various places in Reading, located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2008 and 2000.

EVAN
The parole officer for both Jason and Chris. They essentially play the mediating force between Jason and Chris. Not much is known about Evan or what brought them to this field of work, however, they do care about the well-being of both characters. They believe in tough love and does not back down.

JASON
The son of Tracey and best friend of Chris. Jason is a young man who is very proud of his family history at the factory. He tends to not be aware of how the way he says things affect others, nor does he care. Though he shows it often in the worst way, Jason cares deeply about his friends and family.

CHRIS
The son of Cynthia and Brucie, and best friend of Jason. Chris is a young black man trying to navigate his way through a world not built in his favor. He is stuck between staying strong and following in the footsteps of his father as a factory employee, or following his dream and going to school. Chris cares deeply about his family, but he struggles with the fine line of supporting or enabling his father.

STAN
The manager of the bar where everyone hangs out. Stan is the glue that keeps the whole group together. He tends to get flirty with Jessie and Tracey. He is someone who is crafting his own corner of the American dream working at the bar after an injury at Olstead’s left him with a permanent limp. Day in and day out he sees the lives of the people affected by the tumbling economy. Because of this and his own experience, he tries his hardest to help those close to him.

OSCAR
An employee of the bar. Oscar is a hardworking young man with aspirations to rise far above his current situation. Though he is under no obligation, he often helps the group, receiving no gratitude (and often plenty of insults) in return. He and Stan seem to have a cordial relationship, not quite friendship but closer than acquaintances.

TRACEY
The single mother of Jason and best friend of Cynthia and Jessie. Tracey is a strong willed, quick tongued, no nonsense woman. She does not care if what she says offends you or hurts your feelings. She is one of the hardest workers at Olstead’s and perhaps the biggest personality in the show.

CYNTHIA
The mother of Chris and best friend of Tracey and Jessie. Cynthia is a woman who understands the pressure and importance of being a black woman in a white world. She is determined to not only do well for herself, but to also see her son Chris do well. She has a difficult relationship with Brucie, whom she wants to support, but is at her wits end with his addiction problems. However, she often finds herself in a place of missing him right when she should push him out. One of the most complex characters in the show, Cynthia is compelling and full of layers.

JESSIE
A good friend of Cynthia and Tracey, and kind of a third wheel in the relationship. Jessie tries her best to remain neutral between Cynthia and Tracey, but later this neutrality is broken. She is often the comic relief with a glass of something always near. However, Jessie is still trying to pick herself up after losing her husband to another woman. She is truly a hopeless romantic who processes her broken heart through the haze of alcohol.

BRUCIE
The estranged husband of Cynthia and father of Chris. He was once one of the loudest voices on the line, encouraging others to continue fighting until they won. However, a tough life and a losing battle with addiction have changed him. His love for Cynthia and Chris has not changed, but at times this manifests itself as manipulation to get money for drugs.

Lynn Nottage, the writer of Sweat, was born November 2nd, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a child psychologist. Nottage received a Bachelor’s in Arts degree from Brown University in 1986 and obtained a Master’s in Fine Arts degree from the Yale University School of Drama in 1989. Nottage’s works portray rarely-captured moments in American history that revolve around complex issues in society with the lives of working class African American women in the early 20th Century. She is the first, and remains the only, woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice (Ruined in 2009 and Sweat in 2017, which moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater). Other plays include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Award nomination); Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award); Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics Association 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! Nottage also wrote the book for MJ the Musical, which featured the music of pop icon Michael Jackson and opened on Broadway in February 2022. She had two productions on Broadway during the same season (Clyde’s and MJ the Musical) and was nominated for Best Play and Best Book of a Musical at the 2022 Tony Awards.