SWEAT

This production contains violence, blood, and explicit language that includes racial slurs.

Lynn Nottage has written a truly arresting story which fills the stage with nuanced and diverse characters. They possess all the good stuff; love, hate, shame, guilt, curiosity, humor, quirks, regret, intelligence and pain. The beauty of Sweat is that the people on the stage are us and we are them. To quote the playwright, “This story is not about those people but our people.” After more than a year of quarantine, the idea of transcending our separation feels cathartic. So, I invite you to open your heart; be here, now; fully present and engaged. Because the inability to understand and embrace the humanity of each individual; is the greatest danger to us all.

Thank you to my loving wife for her unwavering support and to my cast, crew and the entire team for being awesome! -Cezar Williams, Director

Cast

Abby Burris (Jessie) is a fourth year BFA actor from Greensboro, North Carolina. Purchase Rep credits include: The Laramie Project (Reggie Fluty, Rebecca Hiliker), Marisol (Homeless Ensemble), Civic Duty (The Sister-In-Law), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Cunningham), and Wolves Eat Elk (Elk Grandmother). She wishes to thank her family, friends, company, and all the amazing and caring people who have shared the tears and laughter these last four years!

Nate Entz (Stan) is a fourth year BFA actor from Three Rivers, CA. Purchase Rep credits include: Everything You Love (Sam/X), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Judge Littlefield/Butch Honeywell), and Passage (G/J/D). Other credits include Pitchfork Disney (Cosmo Disney) and Eurydice (Orpheus). Nate is so grateful to be telling this story, with these people, at this time. It is a blessing to work with such devoted, kind and talented artists. Nate would like to thank his family for...everything–he feels like he won the lottery of birth. He’d also like to thank his friends for taking him as he is and for being on this crazy ride with him. 

Tatiana G. Graves-Kochuthara (Cynthia) is a fourth year BFA actor from Queens, New York. Purchase Rep credits include: Marisol (Voices/Homeless People), Everything You Love (Panacea Touch), and, most recently, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Satan). She sends all of her love to her mom, grandparents and friends for all of the love and support they give her. 

Jaylon Jamal Mobley (Chris)

Darián Negrón-Ortiz (Oscar) s a fourth year BFA actor from Central Florida. Purchase rep credits include: Wolves Eat Elk (Alex), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (El-Fayoumy), and Eclipse (Skylight). Darián would like to thank his family, friends, and Company 46 for helping him get to where he is now. Follow him @la.salsa.picante on Instagram

Francis Pàce-Nuñez He/Him/His (Brucie) is an actor from Sleepy Hollow, NY. His past credits include “B” in Passage and “Pontius Pilate & Caiaphas The Elder” in Purchase Rep’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Francis would like to thank his peers for being amazing! And as always, he loves his Mama.

Steven Rutledge (Evan) is a second year BFA actor from Brooklyn, New York. Previous credits include: Peter and the Starcatcher (Ted), A Few Good Men (Kendrick), and Legally Blonde (Emmett Forrest). He would like to thank his family, friends, and everyone else who supports him!

Vincent Szutenbach (Jason) is a fourth year BFA actor from Texas. Past Credits include The Laramie Project, Wolves Eat Elk, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Civic Duty. Vincent wants to thank his parents for sending him his light bulb and his friends for buying him snacks when he starts getting hangry. 

Nikol Tsvetanova (Tracey) is a fourth year BFA acting major originally from Vidin, Bulgaria, but brought up in Dallas, TX. Purchase Reps include: Passage (R, S, Mosquito, Gecko), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Saint Thomas), and Everything You Love (Jillian Mee). She sends much love and gratitude to her family, friends, and lovely company members. Instagram: @nikoltsve

Creative

Abigail Citarella (Costume Designer) is a third year BFA costume designer from Warwick New York. Purchase Credits include: Assistant Costume Designer and Wardrobe Supervisor on As You Like It , and Assistant Costume Designer on A People’s History Of Looting. Other Credits Include: Assistant Costume Designer on Cabaret and Mamma Mia! at Surflight Theatre. Thank you to her family and friends for supporting her!

James Deng (Lighting Designer) is a fourth year lighting designer originally from Brooklyn, New York. Purchase production credits include: As You Like It (ALD), Dance Nation (ALD), Bibles & Candy, and Helen (ME). He would like to thank his close friends and family that allowed him to grow to the person he is today.

Grace Griffin (Production Stage Manager) is a fourth year BFA stage manager from New York. Purchase Rep credits include: What to Send Up (SM), Subliminal (SM), and The Misanthrope (SM). Other credits include Mean Girls and Cabaret at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. She would like to thank her cast, crew and team for making this production so fantastic!

Gaby Liriano (Sound Designer) is a third year BFA D/T student concentrating in lighting design from Cortlandt Manor, New York. Purchase credits include: The Misanthrope (Master Electrician), The Colored Museum (Master Electrician), and As You Like It (Programmer). Many thanks to her Mohmmay.

Madi Morrissey (Technical Director) is fourth year design/technology student with a double concentration in technical direction and stage management from Troy, New York. Purchase credits include: Fen (Assistant Stage Manager), Right Behind You (Stage Manager), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Lead Draftsman) and As You Like It ​(Technical Director). Other credits include working at the Santa Fe Opera house as a stage crew apprentice in the 2021 season. Madi would like to thank her lovely friends who she is incredibly grateful to have spent the last 3 years growing with. Toi toi toi!!

Leana Pili (Scenic Designer) is a fourth year BFA scenic designer from Long Island, New York. Purchase Rep credits include: As You Like It (Asst. SD), Passage (Assoc. Scenic Designer), Marisol (Props Charge), and Blood Wedding (Asst. Paint Charge). Many thanks to those who support her!

CEZAR WILLIAMS is an award-winning director. Recent credits include the Off-Broadway premiere of Dancing on Eggshells (Billie Holiday Theatre), Till: A Musical (American Theater Group), The October Storm (Hudson Stage Co.), Crowndation: I Will Not Lie to David (National Black Theatre), The Hunting Season (Planet Connections Festivity, Award for Best Direction), You Wouldn’t Expect (American Bard Theater), How To Be Safe (The Dirty Blondes in rep at the Kraine Theater), directing all seven short plays in the 8th Annual (The Fire This Time Festival), Free Will (The Arthur Seelen Theatre), Ghost Town and Tailypo (Detroit NY Festival), Lunchtime in Heaven (48 hours in Harlem), Nightfall and Slow Gin Fits (The Fire This Time Festival 2013 & 2014). He has worked at venues including The Actors Studio, Williamstown Theater Festival, 59E59th Street Theater, La Mama, The Cherry Lane, and the Bleecker Street Theater. Cezar is a graduate of New York University where he was the recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. He is the Artistic Director of the Obie Award winning Fire This Time Festival. Cezar Williams is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. For professional inquiries contact him at cezar@cezarwilliams.com 

In our teaching and art, the Conservatory values inclusiveness, equality, and excellence. Upholding all of our training is our aim to train and graduate citizen artists: multifaceted people with a strong sense of purpose in approaching an arts education.

What is a citizen artist? Citizen artists seek to discover how their unique voices can contribute to our world. They understand what it means to be an artist, and what they are here on earth to say and do and make.

The Conservatory trains future citizen artists in three degree programs:

+ BFA Actor Training. The BFA is an intensive professional training program offered to a highly select and diverse group of students. The professional training is anchored in four years of study in acting, voice, speech, and movement, complemented by offerings in dramatic literature and analysis, history of the theatre, stage combat, improvisation, mask work, acting for the camera, and the business of acting. As one of five schools in the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of training artists at this level—and of drawing a faculty from the ranks of professional theatre

+ BFA in Theatre Design/Technology. Emphasizing studio and classroom training, our professional training program in theatre design/technology gives students the guidance and support of established and theatre industry professionals. Many of our alumni are recognized at the top of their field, and have received Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk Awards, among other honors. Quite literally, Purchase grads are working in or have worked in every theatre on Broadway, in all tristate venues, and with countless touring productions

+ BA program in Theatre and Performance. From traditional theatre to cutting-edge interdisciplinary work, the theatre and performance major encourages creativity, intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and critical thinking. The core requirements combine scholarship and practice to provide students with a strong foundation in theatre history and dramatic literature, with mandatory stagecraft/production courses. Theatre and Performance majors are encouraged to expand the scope of their education by studying abroad, as well as pursuing coursework in other programs of study within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College