The New York Times hailed playwright Lynn Nottage as “a justly acclaimed dramatist of ambitious scope and fierce focus” and this depiction rings wildly true in her recent Broadway hit Sweat, which opened February 8 at Asolo Repertory Theatre.

Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Sweat is the second-most-produced play in the country for the 2018-19 season and continues Asolo Rep’s celebration of 60 years on stage. While on the surface it is about factory closures in Reading, Pennsylvania, Sweat profoundly unearths the real people and relationships impacted by the economic collapse in the heart of working-class America. This fresh drama, proclaimed by the New Yorker as “the first theatrical landmark of the Trump era,” tells the story of Tracey and Cynthia, best friends who have spent most of their lives in the same factory until mass layoffs challenge their friendship, families and status quo.

Nottage spent years interviewing the steelworkers whose impassioned stories inspired Sweat, which has been celebrated for its rawness and distinctive ability to capture Reading’s struggles. She also penned the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ruined as well as Intimate Apparel (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play); Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Obie Award); Crumbs From the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; and Poof!

Directed by Nicole A. Watson, who also helmed The Great Society (2016) at Asolo Rep, Sweat runs through April 13 in rotating repertory in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets and information: www.asolorep.org