The Detroit Project

the long version

Three provocative dramas make up Dominique Morisseau's sweeping examination of the sociopolitical history of Detroit: Detroit '67, which takes place during the race riots of 1967, Paradise Blue, set in a small jazz club in Detroit's Blackbottom neighborhood, and Skeleton Crew, which explores an auto plant on the eve of the 2008 financial collapse. These plays serve to showcase the economic and racial tensions the city has faced throughout the past century, which are often buried by recurrent headlines of poverty and misery that diminish Detroit's vibrant emotional past. With empathetic storytelling and an ear for the voice of her home community, Morisseau brings to light the race and class divides of not only Detroit but the nation as a whole. --