Nostalgia is a disease. Sounds bitter and jaded, right? Or maybe it’s a lens of reality that should be more closely examined— lingering too long in the past can make it difficult to progress into the future. 2nd Star Productions, in shared residence at Bowie Playhouse, is currently producing Sweat, written by the Pulitzer-prize-winning playwright, Lynn Nottage. Directed by Miss Cody Jones, the play itself is a powerful social commentary about classism, racism, and how one’s life can change in a matter of moments based on the decisions one makes.
2nd Star, who are perhaps better recognized for their work with musical theatre, are endeavoring to push the boundaries of their ethos with this production of Sweat. But the production itself falls somewhat unevenly. There are a great many praiseworthy elements— particularly in specific performances and in the rather striking visuals of the set— there are other components that do not quite come together to service the work of Lynn Nottage in as an impressive manner as one might hope.
The set, as previously mentioned, is one of Gene Valendo’s more straight forward masterpieces. The hand-painted interior (by way of Scenic Painter Jane Wingard and her assistants Dakota Leitch Diane Schwartz, Noah Wingard, and Todd Wingard) of the bar is striking and could be an ‘every-bar’ in the working-class sense. It doesn’t situate itself immediately outside of Reading, PA but rather in the vague but relatable location of every working-class individual’s place of respite. It’s simple (but beautifully painted) and in its simplicity, Valendo’s work gets out of the way of the story that’s meant to be told. Yes, it’s important to recognize that the majority of the action takes place in this bar, but the set isn’t so all-consuming that it obstructs the storytelling component of the performance. Valendo, Wingard, and their team of assistants craft a grittiness right into the scenery that puts its finger right on the heartbeat of the show’s reality.
Costume Designer Hillary Leyendecker takes a similar approach with the show’s aesthetic, again drawing attention to the working-class clothing in her sartorial selections. Overalls and bandanas as head-scarves, nothing overly complicated, but relatable enough to anyone observing. The wilder “party” outfits are a bit much, but they serve their purpose, which is to draw sharp contrast to the fact that these working-class women do occasionally get out of their ‘filthy floor clothes’ and clean up pretty to enjoy special moments in their lives, mainly each other’s birthdays. Sound Designers Kelsey Meiklejohn Bowen, Nathan Bowen, and Miss Cody Jones also deserve a nod for finding clean, balanced sound bites, which are a critical component to each of the introductions to the scenes, however they misstep in judging where ‘coverage music’ should go. There are a few scene changes, under cover of darkness, that don’t appear to need music overlaid because the changes are either so short or happen so efficiently that the sound is superfluous. Yet there are other scene changes that drag out and these are the one that lack the coverage music to help distract the audience from the bumping and scraping of furnishings as they move.
Director Miss Cody Jones has two major issues that hamper the overall production experience. The first is the pacing. Yes, Lynn Nottage’s play is long, but the writing is powerful enough that any audience member will easily forgive its length when it is delivered with tighter, more succinct pacing. A great many of the scenes drag. This occurs most frequently in scenes with Brucie (Wendell Holland) and some of the scenes with Cynthia (Cheryl Thompson.) While the Brucie character is meant to be strung out on drugs and alcohol, the stuttering and lengthy pauses that accompany Holland’s performance do not feel intentional and unfortunately deflate the momentum of the scenes that he is in. While this happens far less frequently with Thompson’s Cynthia, there are still a few scenes where the actor appears to be grasping for lines. This could, of course, just have been an ‘off’ night, but the overall pacing outside of these two performers still lags behind a great deal of the action and dialogue that is happening in the script.
Miss Cody Jones’ other issue is the overall use and blocking of the stage. The Bowie Playhouse stage is incredibly deep. The main walls of Gene Valendo’s set go quite far back, leaving a huge open gap between the back of the bar and the edge of the stage. In an attempt to surmount this cavernous gap, Miss Cody Jones ends up bringing the actors very far upstage, often right to the edge of the stage, and has critical monologues delivered directly out to the audience as if they were soliloquys. Not only does this not work for most of those speeches (because they are often directed at the other character in the scene, who is standing way far downstage) but it creates a really strange scene on the stage because you have one actor right at the stage’s edge, a huge gap behind that actor, and then the other actors and the bar set way at the back of the stage. Sometimes the actors are staged unnecessarily far apart (and if the justification for this blocking choice is “Covid-related-safety-concerns”, then this is not the show to be producing at this time) and this creates issues with the overall dynamic buildup of stakes and struggle, depriving the scenes of much needed momentum.
Despite mismanaged blocking and overall ill-pacing, Miss Cody Jones does get some stellar performances out of a few of the performers. It’s actually a shame that the character of Evan (Brad Eaton), the parole officer, isn’t afforded more on-stage time in the script as the actor is quite impressive. Eaton is fully present when speaking with both Jason and Chris, delivers his text with a keen sense of understanding of just how important this tertiary character is to facilitating success for these two primary characters. If there’s one thing to say about Eaton’s performance that could use improvement— and this was true for every single actor on stage— it’s their awareness of their volume. Often times, particularly in more ‘soft-spoken’ moments, the volume from all of the actor trails away, making their text difficult to hear.
The audience doesn’t get much from the Oscar (Alexander Ose) character at first; it’s scripted that way. But Ose gives the audience a silent, slow-simmering building-up that is extremely well-earned by the time the final scene of the performance rolls around. Ose is a present as Eaton is with hi Evan character, but in a different vein. The rapidly delivered clap-back responses, particularly in moments of conflict for Ose’s character are sharp and drive at the conflict that is the strong undertow of the story. Rose Talbot’s Jessie can be viewed in a similar fashion. While the Jessie character appears to be slotted in primarily for comic relief, there is something truly devastating about her ‘missed travel opportunity’ mantra, particularly when you’ve seen her character be so flighty and silly up until that moment.
The audience is introduced right from the word go to Chris (Avan Martin) and Jason (Joey Rolandelli) in the parole office with Evan. Both Martin and Rolandelli have worlds of energy and enthusiasm to give to their characters in the flashback scenes. (Nottage’s play is told primarily through a series of linear, build-up flashback scenes, which finally clue you in on how the Chris and Jason character ‘ended up doing time on the inside.’) Rolandelli struggles somewhat with the anger-level of his character; it reads a little like the prime directive for his character was “be angry at the top of your voice” because that’s often what gets delivered, which unfortunately gives Rolandelli no place to build to when his character really hits those peak moments of aggression late in the production. He does a solid job of holding his own, both in silly and serious scenes, with Avan Martin, and while his anger is mostly delivered at a one-note level, there are plenty of other moments where you can witness Rolandelli flexing his acting muscles. Martin, as Chris, delivers a composed character, who really salvages the scenes with Brucie and occasionally with Cynthia. He’s sharp, focused, and like the actors playing Oscar and Jessie, respectively, he’s incredibly present in the moment as the drama unfolds.
Seasoned stage performers Pamela Northrup and Brian Binney are the superstars in 2nd Star’s Sweat. While Binney tackles the limp-legged bartender, Stan, Northrup takes on the brash, brassy, hard-as-nails Tracey. Binney does a resplendent job of really digging his heels into the Stan character, who serves as the central grounding point to everyone’s troubles. That’s what bartenders are for, after all. Binney manifests the character’s limp with good consistency, subtly reminding both the characters on stage as well as the audience, that life can change in an instant. Northrup’s character is brash and really brazen; she and Binney are the only two performers who do not struggle with volume control. There’s very little to like about the character of Tracey given her racist tendencies and overall deplorable behavior, which is subtly veiled at the beginning of the performance but explodes into a full-on visceral eruption by the conclusion of her character’s existence in the final flashback scene. Northrup, however, finds a humanity that makes the audience feel just a little bit of something— pity maybe or sympathy— for the character, before she completely hulks out and flames up.
Ultimately 2nd Star Productions gets a good deal of credit for trying; Lynn Nottage’s work is not easy to produce. It’s the perfect show for the times, and there are even some strong performances, as well as an impressive set. Relearning how to correctly utilize stage space and pace out a show is a challenge that many theatres are navigating in the ‘post-pandemic world’; it is one that 2nd Star Productions is still working with and will hopefully master in their next non-musical production. Go for the strong performances, for the powerful message in Nottage’s writing, and the brilliant scenery.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes with one intermission
Sweat plays through September 3, 2022 with 2nd Star Productions, in residence at The Bowie Playhouse— 16500 White Marsh Park Drive, in Bowie, MD. For tickets call the box office at 410-757-5700 or purchase them online.
**At this time 2nd Star Productions is requiring proof of vaccination to enter the theatre as well as the wearing of masks at all times while in the theatre**
