Sweat NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (685)
See it if you want relevant drama about the impact of today's economic stress on family, friendship and community - an intense, personal drama.
Don't see it if You want to tune out of society's big challenges and are looking for light entertainment
See it if You're able. It's amazing.
Don't see it if You aren't interested in great drama. In which case why are you here? Read more
See it if you like a good story told iin in an easy to understand way. Very moving and relevant
Don't see it if you don't like to see a story with minority character
See it if you want to see how fiercely real modern theater can be
Don't see it if you're not willing to challenge your assumptions about the working class
See it if you want to see an important, brilliantly acted portrait of blue-collar America.
Don't see it if you want something light-hearted/feel-good and/or if you are offended by profanity.
See it if you are interested in contemporary political topics and want to see absorbing drama.
Don't see it if you prefer light comedy, a musical or something that doesn't make you think.
See it if You want to be provoked to deeply contemplate our U.S. Culture. This play is as profound and moving as Notage's earlier play, "Ruined."
Don't see it if You want to be soothed into complacency with modern life.
See it if If you are interested in seeing a play that speaks to the times we are living me both old and today.
Don't see it if You do not like plays about race, class and people who can and should overcome their feelings.
Critic Reviews (87)
"No play on Broadway addresses the political climate more immediately than 'Sweat'....Other productions this season have had superlative ensembles, but none is more prominent than this one. The details, small and large, filled in by each cast member are heart-throbbing. So much of this creativity in performance, of course, has to be attributed to director Kate Whoriskey...'Sweat' is a first-rate achievement."
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"The cast is excellent with Wilson and Davis standing out. Whoriskey’s direction is ploddingly slow in the first act, but picks up in the second...Though much of this show is believable, who seriously wants to watch this? I don’t mean to sound heartless, because this is a reality for some parts of the country. Sadly we never really get to know the personal relationships of these characters...This may be an important play, but I do not see this drawing an audience."
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"Nottage’s slice-of-lifer is moving and impactful even if the plot is somewhat melodramatic, thanks to Whoriskey’s detailed direction and the cast’s compassionate performances...Nottage’s script feelingly captures the plight of the working class...Yet too much of the action feels like a checklist as topics such as immigration and automation are crossed off...The play probably would have been more powerful if Nottage had not created such an obviously theatrical, tear-jerking finish."
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“Directed with the utmost care by Kate Whoriskey and acted by the finest ensemble you’re likely to see this season…They may not sound like fascinating characters, but how real they are, and what exquisite detail Nottage has invested in them. The small talk’s true and funny…It’s an old-fashioned great American play, one that zeros in on a single community to make larger statements about who we are, what this country values, and the price it pays for it."
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"An excellent, highly charged play...It is refreshing to hear characters talk about politics as urgently, and realistically, as people are affected by it. 'Sweat' is politics as lived and spoken about on the ground, not as an abstraction. 'Sweat' is the first, properly muscular play of the Trump era, directly addressing the political and cultural bedrock of his presidency...The politics of the play, while clear and emphatic, do not supersede the careful drawing of character."
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“As powerful and searing at Studio 54 as it was last year at the Public Theater…All of the actors give strong performances, but Johanna Day stands out…The play gets right to the heart of what has been happening in the United States…A fierce and fiery work with plenty of heart and soul, a brilliant microcosm of a deeply divided nation where hardworking people have to live with choices no one should be forced to make.”
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"Nottage eloquently captures the malaise among a group of longtime coworkers at a Berks County, Pennsylvania, mill...'Sweat' should be hailed for its visceral performance by Johanna Day...'Sweat' positively smokes through its two-hour-plus run...Nottage obviously hit on something vital in her research—with 20/20 hindsight. 'Sweat' gives off a tangible vibe, and if some better understood the issues raised by this play before the election, they wouldn’t have been surprised by the outcome."
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"With authority and a solid nine-person ensemble, Nottage finely crafts the disintegration of opportunities, friendships and families swept up in whirlpools of disappointment and a cycle of drugs, violence and poverty...With a sure hand, director Kate Whoriskey leads this well-cast ensemble in a relentless parade from hard days and close community to collapse...'Sweat' is a memorable play for our times, about our times and our people."
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