Entertainment

Dominique Morisseau, 'the bard of Detroit, impresses critics with 'Skeleton Crew,' her 2nd Broadway play

February 06, 2022, 4:28 PM by  Alan Stamm

Detroit's best-known playwright scores again on Broadway. Three years after critical praise for a Temptations musical called "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," Dominique Morisseau earns strong reviews for "Skeleton Crew."

The drama about Detroit sheet metal stamping plant workers bracing for a plant foreclosure and job loss is an example of "classic craftsmanship," says The New York Times. Vulture calls Morisseau "the modern-day bard of Detroit."


"Thank you for showing up for me, repeatedly," the playwright (white shirt) tells Detroiters after Friday's show. (Photo: Jalen Rose/Twitter)

The play was at Detroit Public Theatre for four weeks in fall 2017. The higher-budget version in New York hosted a "Detroit Night" Friday that drew Mayor Mike Duggan, education entrepreneur Jalen Rose, author Michael Eric Dyson, actor S. Epatha Merkerson, poet-screenwriter jessica care moore, actor-producer Michael Chenevert and hundreds of other hometown fans of the playwright, a daughter of the Six Mile-Livernois area.  

The Detroit Free Press' arts and culture writer, Duante Beddingfield had a seat and writes Sunday:

The nearly all-Black audience came ready for a great time, reacting strongly to every twist and punchline. The actors frequently had to hold for long, raucous laughs and wildly enthusiastic applause. 

He quotes the mayor as saying: "What is really special about our city is, when somebody from our city makes good, everybody in Detroit feels proud."

Director [Ruben] Santiago-Hudson spent formative years in Detroit as a young man. After a standing ovation for the "Skeleton Crew" cast at the end of the play, the Wayne State University alum took the stage to join in celebrating the Motor City. ...

"I soaked up ... the loving embrace of Detroit. I don't know if I learned anything about Shakespeare, but I learned a hell of a lot about the pride of my people."

Morisseau, who turns 44 next month, graduated from Cass Tech High School in 1996 and the University of Michigan four years later. She won a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" of $625,000 in 2018.


"The modern-day bard of Detroit," as Vulture's reviewer dubs her. (Photo: Kareem Black, Manhattan Theatre Club)

A road company brings her "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" to the Fisher Theatre this August. (Single tickets go on sale at a spring date to be announced.) 

Below are excerpts from reviews of "Skeleton Crew," which opened Jan. 18 and is scheduled to run through Feb. 20. A minute-and-a-half video conversation between the playwright and director is at the end.

Adroit writing: "It’s so adroitly built and written ... that you hardly have time to decide, until its brisk two hours have passed, whether it's a comedy or a tragedy. Even then, as in life, you may not know for sure." -- Jesse Green, The New York Times

'Moving drama:' "Dominique Morisseau knows what she is doing. ... She writes this moving drama with pristine delicacy and develops its characters with rigorous detail and tact. ...
"Like the production line, every moment is judiciously planned and carefully assembled. Her characters move sequentially along a line that, in the end, gives life and nuance to working-class people often portrayed as one-dimensional." -- Ayanna Prescod, Variety

Prideful characters: "Morisseau’s characters have a pride in their jobs and a belief in workers' rights that sounds like something out of a Clifford Odets play from the Great Depression." -- Robert Hoffler, The Wrap

♦ 'Brilliant:' "Morriseau has created a brilliant, modern workplace tragedy, masterfully attuned to the ways the American Dream has made sleepwalkers of us all." -- Juan A. Ramirez, Theatrely

♦ 'Modern-day bard of Detroit:' "Nearly every beat of the drama deals with some concealment. ... This 'more is hidden than shown' quality pervades every part of Morisseau’s script. ... As a storytelling engine, 'Skeleton Crew' glides along, with complications slotting neatly into revelations and a worker's poetry lubricating the action. ... Morisseau is the modern-day bard of Detroit." -- Helen Shaw, Vulture

Skillful: "When you have Dominique Morisseau as the playwright, the factory doesn't just come alive; it literally dances. ... What Morisseau skillfully does with 'Skeleton Crew' is create a portrait of the lower working class that isn’t bleak, hopeless or condescending.." -- Diet Tran, New York Theatre Guide

'Passionate advocate:' "When it comes to all things Motor City, there's no better historian—or more passionate advocate—than playwright Dominique Morisseau." -- Melissa Rose Bernardo, New York Stage Review

'Streetwise and lyrical:' "The script [is] full of dialogue that is both streetwise and lyrical." -- Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater

♦ 'Tough as a factory foreman:' "Morisseau hasn't patched together a sentimental feel-good booster shot. 'Skeleton Crew' can be tough as a factory foreman. ... We arrive at the end with hope, not assurance." -- Greg Evans, Deadline (no connection to us)



Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day