Cityscape

'This Is a Love Song to My Family and to Detroit' -- 'Detroit '67' Playwright

May 13, 2016, 7:49 AM

Second of two parts. Part One: "Detroit '67" comes home at last.

In a "Playwright's Note" at the start of "Detroit '67," the 2013 drama that's launched Detroit-born playwright Dominique Morisseau's hometown trilogy, she talks about its impetus and her creative roots.

As the award-winning play starts a three-week run at The Max with a preview performance tonight, we present most of that introduction, via an excerpt posted by Google Books:

'I like to re-live my parents' memories'

Every Detroiter of my post-riot generation has heard tales of our city's "used-to-bes."  Mamas and Daddys, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles would tell is stories of shopping at Hudson's on Woodward (our main downtown avenue). Of riding the streetcar. Of the bustling downtown that once was (and is coming again. Please believe.) This would often be followed by a head shaking or a sigh at what has become of our city since.

But the thing is, I'm a romantic. I like to re-live my parents' memories as if they were my own. I like to see the beauty in my city and remind us all of who we are, what we did and what we have the potential to become.

So this play is not necessarily a history lesson. In fact, it can't be because I am taking a lot of liberties with the truth here. Some of these locations mentioned in the play never existed. Some of them did.

However creative I am choosing to be, I am not being unfaithful to the spirit of the city or the outrage that ignited the riots.

The truth is, there were police units called the Big Four that would ride around the city and harass the Black residents -- particularly atround 12th Street. The truth is, 12th Street was considered to be a "seedy' part of town. The truth is, the riots began in this very neighborhood at a time when police brutality had run far too rampant and an after-hours joint (also called a "blind pig") located above a printing shop got raideded. The truth is, the city's disenfranchised were becoming social rebels.

That is the truth -- in this play and in real life. The rest of the lines between truth and fiction are my personal playwright secrets.

But what I will say is that wherever my creativity lies, it is always rooted in the soul of the family and elders from which my stories are born. This is a love song to my family and to Detroit. 

© Oberon Books Ltd., 2013

See the play

  • Dates: May 13-14, 8 p.m. previews. May 15, 3 p.m. opening benefit. May 18-June 5, regular performances each Wednesday-Sunday, (2 and 8 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays.)  

  • Tickets: $20 , students, $30, seniors, $35-$45 others. May 15 opening benefit is $100, including pre-show champagne and fan afterglow with snacks and a cash bar.  

-- Alan Stamm



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