Detroit '67 (A Play By Dominique Morriseau)
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Detroit '67 by Dominique Morriseau takes place on a set designed to look like a basement. The basement of a home off 12th and Clairmount Avenue on Detroit's west side. The set was so convincing that I could almost feel the damp coolness of being underground. If you had a basement growing up, it gives you a nostalgic feeling as soon as you take a seat.
Speaking of nostalgia, the Motown music heard throughout may cause toe-tapping, whether you are part of the older crowd or not.
The story begins with a series of playful scenes that make you think that it may be a lighthearted tale. Then a badly beaten white woman shows up. The ominous sign of a her (Caroline), in this condition and somewhere she didn't readily belong is foreshadowing. The doom on the horizon will become one of Detroit's worst moments in the last 50 years.
Morriseau, who is too young to have witnessed the actual riots, draws a clear and bold line from the past to the issues STILL plaguing urban cities today. She did her homework. Police brutality, racism and poverty are just some of the issues addressed. Sadly, it all shows how little things have changed in the last 49 years. This might be the biggest takeaway. While the love of family and community pride are sub themes, it's clear that this play is so much more.
Morriseau writes sensitive and noble characters who are ALL protagonists in DETROIT '67. You can't help but love them: Michelle (Sweet 'chelle), Lank (Langston), Bunny and Sly. Even Caroline has a goodness about her despite what she signifies and what ultimately follows her arrival.
The audience can watch from a safe distance in present day. Some may feel empathetic and even sympathetic to the plight of the characters. However, there is no certainty that everything will be alright and it's still not. Perhaps Morriseau wrote it this way, so that when it ends, one feels very uneasy. The 2-hour play is well-written and portrayed so perfectly that I would gladly see it again.
My favorite line from the play (as I remember it) is:
"I'm a different person then who I was before. I woke up and realized everything before that was bullshit."