The Donmar Warehouse has announced full casting for Lynette Linton’s production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage (7 December 2018 to 26 January 2019, press night is 19 December). The line-up includes Martha Plimpton, Leanne Best, Patrick Gibson, Osy Ikhile, Wil Johnson, Stuart McQuarrie, Clare Perkins, Sule Rimi and Sebastian Viveros.
In 2011, Lynn Nottage began spending time with the people of Reading, Pennsylvania: officially one of the poorest cities in the USA. During the following two years, she dug deep into the forgotten heart of middle America, finding a city divided by racial tension and the collapse of industry. Sweat is the Pulitzer Prize-winning play that Lynn Nottage wrote following her experience.
Her tale of friends pitted against each other by big business and the decline of the American Dream receives its UK premiere at the Donmar, directed by former Donmar resident assistant director Lynette Linton.
Also in the creative team are designer Frankie Bradshaw, lighting designer Oliver Fenwick, sound designer, composer George Dennis, movement director Polly Bennett, fight director Kate Waters and casting director Amy Ball.
Bios
Leanne Best (Jessie) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. Her theatre credits include The Human Voice (Gate), Educating Rita, The Matchbox, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Hypochondriac, The May Queen, Our Country’s Good, Fleet Street Nativity, The Way Home, Unprotected, The Morris, Macbeth, Popcorn (Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse), The Matchbox (Tricycle), Backbeat (Theatre LA), Damned by Despair (National Theatre), My Zinc Bed (Royal Theatre Northampton), Horse Marines (Plymouth Drum), Drowning on Dry Land (Salisbury Playhouse) and Desperately Seeking Susan (Novello).
Patrick Gibson (Jason) makes his Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. His TV and film credits include The OA, The White Princess, Guerrilla, The Passing Bells, Neverland, The Tudors, Tolkien, The Darkest Minds, In A Relationship, Their Finest and What Richard Did.
Osy Ikhile (Chris) makes his Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. His theatre credits include Torn (Royal Court), Sweet Love Remembered (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Your Number’s Up (Roundhouse Theatre).
Wil Johnson (Brucie) makes his Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. His theatre credits include Leave Taking (Bush) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Old Vic), King Lear (Royal Exchange, Manchester), A Wolf In Snakeskin Shoes (Tricycle), Fuente Ovejuna (National Theatre), Redundant (Royal Court), A Mad World My Masters (Shakespeare’s Globe), Serious Money (Birmingham Rep), The Queen and I (Out Of Joint), Torn (Arcola) and the lead in Othello (Royal Lyceum).
Stuart McQuarrie (Stan) returns to the Donmar Warehouse following his performances in The God of Hell, The Dark and The Life of Stuff. His other theatre credits include Creditors (Edinburgh Lyceum), My Country (National Tour) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre).
Clare Perkins (Cynthia) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. Her theatre credits include Mrs Dalloway (Arcola), Emilia (Shakespeare’s Globe), Genesis Inc (Hampstead), The Immigrant (Hoxton Hall), Daisy Pulls It Off (Park), Primetime (Royal Court), Roundelay (Southwark Playhouse), The Convert (Gate), Removal Men (The Yard), The House That Will Not Stand, Fabulation, How Long is Never (Tricycle), Welcome To Thebes (National Theatre), Mules (Royal Court) Meridian (Contact Theatre) How To Be Immortal (Penny Dreadful), Little Revolution (Almeida), Our Country’s Good (Nuffield), Generations Of The Dead (Young Vic), Twelfth Night (London Bubble), The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night time (National Theatre/UK Tour).
Martha Plimpton (Tracey) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. Her theatre credits include Other Desert Cities (Old Vic), Company (New York Philharmonic), A Delicate Balance (John Golden, NY), Pal Joey (Roundabout, NY), Top Girls (MTC), Cymbeline, The Coast of Utopia (Lincoln Centre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pericles (Public, NY, Shakespeare in the Park), The False Servant (Classic Stage Co.), Flesh and Blood (New York Theatre Workshop), Boston Marriage (Public, NY), Hobson’s Choice (Atlantic, NY), Hedda Gabler, The Glass Menagerie, Playboy of the Western World, The Libertine (Steppenwolf) and Uncle Vanya, The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig, Robbers (Seattle Repertory Theater).
Sule Rimi (Evan) returns to the Donmar Warehouse following his role in Measure for Measure. Theatre credits include Love and Information, Desire Under the Elms (Sheffield Theatres), Barber Shop Chronicles (National Theatre/Australia and New Zealand Tour), Mary Stuart, They Drink It In The Congo (Almeida), The Suicide (National Theatre), The Rolling Stone (Royal Exchange, Manchester/West Yorkshire Playhouse/Orange Tree Theatre), Bordergame (National Theatre of Wales), Babes in the Woods (Rainbow Valley Productions), Othello (Fluellen Theatre Company), Muscle (Shock n Awe), Serious Money (Waking Exploits), Robinson Crusoe, Aladdin (Owen Money Theatre Company) and Stanley’s Magic Lamp and the Heart of Darkness (Twm O’r Nant).
Sebastian Viveros (Oscar) makes his Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweat. His theatre credits include Bob, Balm in Gilead, After Troy, Golden Boy (Drama Centre London), Night of the Iguana (Geneva English Drama Society), The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Ecolint). His TV credits include Our Girl.
