Sweat

Evan serves as the parole officer for Chris and Jason. In the Character list, Nottage describes him as “African-American, forties” (vii). As an experienced parole officer, Evan has a strong understanding of the personal struggles Chris and Jason are going through. He offers guidance that is bluntly, candidly phrased, but also empathetically considered. 

Nottage describes Jason as “white American of German descent, twenty-one/twenty-nine” (vii), alluding to the play’s presentation of two different Jasons: the 21-year-old man in 2000 and the 29-year-old man in 2008. He is the son of Tracey, whose family has worked at Olstead’s for generations.

At 21, Jason works on the floor of the Olstead mill alongside his close friend, Chris. Jason is rough-mannered, but warm-hearted, and his tough-talking is often a facade for tender feelings, insecurities, and fears. Though he feels a close connection with Chris, it is clear that Chris is the more intelligent of the two, and Jason isn’t quite sure what to do with this understanding.

Unlike Chris, Jason seems content with his role as a factory worker. When Chris and Jason talk about their future plans, Jason reveals that he has not considered moving outside of Reading, and that he feels deeply tied to his family’s legacy of working at the mill.