Reading, Pennsylvania. A valley town of fiercely proud families who worked for generations in the plants and factories of a thriving county seat. Unions rule, well-paying jobs are coveted and politics are personal. As the ground beneath the feet of the workforce shifts, the men and women of Reading are powerless while their livelihood, legacy and relationships become dismantled as rapidly as the machines on which they worked. Based on Lynn Nottage’s extensive research in Reading, Sweat shares the fear, tragedy and hopefulness of a community being forced to accept inevitable change.