Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Sweat Announces Broadway Closing Date

Sweat, the 2017 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, will play its final Broadway performance at Studio 54 on June 25. By closing, Lynn Nottage’s drama will have played 24 previews and 105 regular performances. Kate Whoriskey directs the work, which began performances on March 4 and officially opened on March 26.

Sweat is based on Nottage's research and interviews with residents of one of the poorest cities in the country, Reading, PA. The play, set in 2000 and 2008, tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the factory floor. When layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a fight to stay afloat.

The story of Sweat and the people of Reading, PA will continue this summer with This Is Reading, an ambitious site-specific multimedia installation blending live performance and visual media that will occupy the historic Franklin Street Railroad Station in Downtown Reading from July 14-16 and July 21-23.

Re-animating the long-vacant building, This Is Reading approaches the historic station as a collaborator, placing its unique history and architecture in dialogue with stories of hardships, challenges, and triumphs of people living in and around Reading, PA. The project will weave their individual stories into one cohesive and compelling tale of the city.

Sweat made its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2015; it was co-commissioned with Arena Stage through OSF’s American Revolutions program. Sweat ran at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage from January-February 2016. That run was followed up by a New York premiere at the Public Theater from October-December 2016. Whoriskey has remained onboard as director for each mounting.

The Broadway company features Johanna Day, Carlo Alban, James Colby, Khris Davis, John Earl Jelks, Will Pullen, Alison Wright, Lance Coadie Williams and Michelle Wilson. Sweat was nominated for three 2017 Tony Awards, including a slot in the Best Play category and acting nods for Day and Wilson, but the work went home empty-handed. Pullen was named a 2017 Clarence Derwent Award winner for his performance.

Broadway.com customers with tickets to canceled performances will be contacted with information on refunds or exchanges.