Pulitzer Prize-Winning Sweat at The Stagecrafters Sweat, by American playwright Lynn Nottage, debuted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015, was produced off-Broadway in 2016, and on Broadway in 2017 where it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Sweat refers to the hard labor put in by the characters in this play who eke out a modest livelihood doing factory work. A group of these workers from diverse backgrounds meet regularly in a bar in Reading, Pennsylvania, to kibitz, joke, share secrets and laughter. When word gets around that their work situations are about to change because the factory owners are planning to re-negotiate contracts, introducing pay cuts, layoffs and the hiring of non-union workers, conflicts arise among the group. Friendships begin to disintegrate, and racial tensions further separate the group.