[rating=3]Aurora is the second largest city in the state of Illinois. For a long time they were lacking in live theater, but when Jim Corti and Tim Rater decided to bring theater to the city, they did so with a bang. Their Paramount Theatre has been a huge success and now that they have brought musicals, they have gone ahead and re-opened the Copley Theatre across the street at 8 E. Galena. This also has been remodeled and updated, but is a far more intimate space. I know that in years past, many companies rented the space and did some nice work, but now under Corti and Rater, we can expect some truly noteworthy works.

They opened with a bang! The opening series of plays is called the Bold Series! they are deep stories that will allow us to think as well as be entertained. The first play, “Sweat” written by Lynn Nottage ( who also wrote “Ruined” now playing in Chicago) and is keenly directed by Andrea J. Dymond, is a look at the workers and the owners and how one change in the workplace can have an effect on the entire community. Friends and relatives can turn on each other very quickly.

In this story, we start out meeting two main characters , Chris (Emmanual K. Jackson) and Jason ( Gage Wallace) who are recent parolees. They are meeting with their parole officer ,Evan ( Bryant Hayes) and he explains that they must learn to live a different life. We then flashback to just how this all happened- what they did! And why!

I do not want to give away the story in total, but will tell you that the workers in the town are faced with management not wanting to meet their demands. The workers, most of whom have been there for years, want better wages and conditions. Management sees that there are other , non-union workers who can do the same job for far less, thus increasing profits. One of the workers, Cynthia ( played to perfection by Shariba Rivers) is promoted to a management position. She is Chris’s mother and has been a worker for most of her adult life. While she sides with her friends and co-workers, she cannot beat management and like the others needs to work.

As the play goes on we learn that the employees were all locked out and we then witness the hardships that people feel and live through. Having just gone through what almost all of us have experienced during this period of the pandemic, a lot of this will be of great importance to the viewers. When this play was written, America was doing great. It was at the end of the Obama presidency and for most of us, all was okay. Sure there was the race problem and as always a “class” problem, but they were not as notable as they have become during these last years.

If one truly pays attention to the words of Ms Nottage, one will see how important what she wrote is. We are looking at a play that could easily be seen in any small town that depends on one industry or factory for its existence. I recall many years ago when Rinso closed their factory in Whiting Indiana, the number of people who left the community and the foreclosures that took place. The contents of this play are important to see and the story is very real ( and often scary because it is happening).

This is a strong cast of players. In addition t those mentioned, Randy Steinmeyer, Linda Gillum, Tiffany Bedwell,Joshua L. Green and  Jordan Anthony Arredondo as Oscar who was a worker in the bar where the others gathered and with the changes became their replacement and later even more. Again, I do not wan to give away the sub story but you will learn just what happened that brought Jason and Chris to jail.

On the tech side, Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s bar was truly realistic ( even the beer came from the tap) and the costumes ( Yvonne L. Miranda) and lighting (Jessica Neill) were right on. I would have liked the bar to be better hidden in the two scenes where they were not in the bar, but they were not bothersome enough to offer suggestions, Jeffrey Levin’s sound was perfect and Jesse Gaffney filled the set with just the right props. The fight choreography by David Woolley was powerful and will cause you to grab your seat arms.

I am anxious to see what Messrs Rater and Corti have in store for us as the season continues in this new addition to the Aurora Theater scene.

“Sweat” will continue Thru – Apr 24, 2022 with performances as follows: