Sweat
★★★★★ Unmissable
Lyceum: Wed 27 May – Sat 13 Jun 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Sweat by Lynn Nottage at the Lyceum until June 13, is a production of rare power and complexity.
The 2015 play (seen here in a co-production with the Citizens Theatre) is set partly in 2000 and partly in 2008, in an industrial town in Pennsylvania where the residents’ lives are inextricably bound up with the troubled local steel factory.
A scene from Sweat. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, the play has definitely been considered as a modern masterpiece and can be seen as one of those works that dissects how the American Dream turned sour.
However, its portrayal of how those in power treat their employees – making them believe that work was their only reflection of their worth, disposing of them when it was convenient, scapegoating anyone of a different background in order to provide convenient targets for hatred – has the widest possible relevance.
a portrait of a community
While there is no direct mention of it, the later development of the political landscape, both in the US and here, is clearly implicit in a play whose analysis of the situation is searching, clear-eyed and even-handed.
The play has real tragic weight, yet it is not a conventional tragedy, as there is no central figure. Instead, it is a portrait of a community, and every character is given space and motivation.
Laura Cairns, Manuel Pacific, Christopher Middleton, Lucianne McEvoy and Debbie Korley. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
Which could be the only slight criticism of the material; it might be said to betray its genesis in research and interviews, on occasion, with its determination to be fair to absolutely everyone rendering it a touch artificial.
Even that is swept away, however, in a production as wonderfully acted as this one.
full of fire and nuance
Central to the drama are three old friends Cynthia (Debbie Korley), Tracey (Lucianne McEvoy) and Jessie (Laura Cairns). They have worked together at the steel factory for years, but their friendship is put under strain by Cynthia’s promotion and the threat of lay-offs.
All three performances are full of fire and nuance, with Korley’s conflicted Cynthia and McEvoy’s Tracey, who moves from brittle hedonism to bewildered rage, as good as you will see anywhere.
Rudolphe Mdlongwa and Lewis MacDougall. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
There isn’t a weak link in the ensemble, however. Rudolphe Mdlongwa and Lewis MacDougall play Chris and Jason, the sons of Cynthia and Tracey, who also work at the steel mill, and whose lives have taken a calamitous turn from that depicted in the opening scene. Once again these are performances of extraordinary emotional range and realism, with MacDougall’s depiction of an edgy, wired fury particularly impressive.
Christopher Middleton is extremely well grounded as Stan, the bartender whose time at the factory was cut short by an accident, and whose determination to remain neutral might stem from an inherent fairness or a sign that he no longer has the stomach to keep on fighting.
genuine light and shade
Mark Theodore has remarkable emotional heft as Cynthia’s estranged husband Brucie, who has been comprehensively broken by his treatment in an earlier industrial dispute. Ako Mitchell gives the parole officer Evan real weight and authority. Manuel Pacific’s Oscar, Stan’s assistant of Colombian descent – who is the subject of casual racism when he isn’t just invisible – is also a beautifully judged performance.
The ensemble are directed tremendously well by Joanna Bowman, who gives the production an enviable rhythm as well as genuine light and shade. At times chaotic, at other times reflective, there is drive and compulsion to the whole thing that is rarely achieved.
Lewis MacDougall and Ako Mitchell. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
Francis O’Connor’s design, from the monumental factory opening to the brilliantly evoked bar where much of the action takes place, is a thing of wonder. Derek Anderson’s evocative lighting and composer Patricia Panther’s bursts of electronic rumble are similarly impressive.
A mention, too, for some of those whose work often goes unremarked. Fight director EmmaClaire Brightlyn and movement director Jack Webb’s work is exemplary. The fact that their part in it all might pass unnoticed says volumes for how effective dialect coach Aundrea Fudge and casting director Annelie Powell have been.
perceptive
There is a danger that potential audiences look at the play and consider that the subject matter might be heavy going, or that it might be some kind of political treatise, and give it a miss.
Yes, it is a deeply sad play in many ways, and has serious things to say. But it is also deeply human and extremely important, as well as truthful and remarkably perceptive.
This production, moreover, is one of the most powerful pieces of theatre that has been seen here in recent years, and is recommended in the strongest possible terms.
Running time: Two hours and 45 minutes (including one interval).
Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay St, EH3 9AX
Wednesday 27 May – Saturday 13 June 2026
Tues – Sat at 7.30 pm; Matinee Thurs, Sat at 2.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here
Mark Theodore. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
ENDS
