Playwright Lynn Nottage thanked the steel workers of Reading, Pennsylvania for “opening up their hearts” while she was writing Sweat.
The play is based on interviews Nottage conducted over two years with the citizens of Reading, one of the poorest cities in America, where she found a place divided by rising racial tension and decreasing opportunity.
Accepting the award for Best Play, in partnership with Chanel, at last night’s 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards, she said: “I wrote 'Sweat' because I saw a storm coming. I wanted to write something about the trauma that working class people were experiencing during the economic downturn, and particularly during the period of de-industrialisation.”
She said she had expected that they would be reticent to speak to her but found them to be “open-hearted” and in need of a voice.
Sweat, which ran at the Donmar Warehouse, before transferring to the Gielgud Theatre, tells the story of a group of factory workers and their families, showing the collapse of industry and its effect on the lives of the town residents.
The Standard’s five star review of the Donmar production called the play “outstanding”, saying it “speaks so powerfully to our Brexit-riven, food bank-strewn country, frightened as we are of the future, the ‘other’ and the decline of social structures”.
Sweat won the award in a particularly strong category: Downstate by Bruce Norris, ear for eye by debbie tucker green and Glass. Kill. Bluebird. Imp. by Caryl Churchill.
Olivia Colman presented her with the award, saying: “New writing is the lifeblood of British theatre.”
Nottage added that she first came to London aged 20-years-old “because I wanted to be a theatre artist, and I survived on ramen noodles and porridge and nearly starved to death.
“This is such a glorious moment for me.”
You can read the full list of winners here.
