BRUNSWICK — The Department of Theater and Dance at Bowdoin College will present the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning play “Sweat” next month in Memorial Hall at Pickard Theater.

The Maine premiere will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 1 and 2, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 3.

The play by Lynn Nottage is directed by Davis Robinson. The powerful drama set in Reading, Pennsylvania, examines the pressures exerted on a close-knit group of blue-collar factory workers as globalization, recession and the threat of the factory closing creates explosive battles along racial and ethnic fault lines.

With dark humor, it play explores rupturing friendships while providing a clear-eyed and empathetic understanding of the plight of the disappearing middle class in modern America.

Nottage was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1964. She studied at Brown University and received her Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama. She is the only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in drama twice.

Nottage explores themes of identity, race and politics while giving voice to those who have been historically excluded from the narrative. She is the recipient of a Mac Arthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship and the Steinberg “Mimi” Distinguished Playwright Award.

Advance tickets are free and available by calling 207-725-3375. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The presentation is sponsored by the Alice Cooper Morse Fund for the Performing Arts.