This astute and exquisitely forged play, which opens at The Stagecrafters on Friday, February 4, is the third story in Dominique Morisseau’s three-play Detroit Project Cycle, comprised of Detroit ’67 (2013), Paradise Blue (2015), and Skeleton Crew (2016). Set in the winter of 2008-2009, as the Great Recession was reaching its lowest ebb, the remaining ‘skeleton crew’, a handful of workers at the last auto-stamping plant in hard-hit Detroit, are wondering how soon they’ll lose their jobs and be left without means of support. Bonded by long years together in the workplace, they continue to share their everyday joys, pains, hopes and despair – at this point added to their dread that the plant will fold. Now much of their time together focuses on their intersecting life stories, overlaid with heartache and bitterness. Critics’ responses chronicle the raw emotions: “… a taut and vibrant … drama with vivid characters, keen -eared dialogue, and inside insights into this [no-holds barred] working class world. …” (New York Daily News); “… the American worker, cranky, caring, overburdened and endangered, is given [his/her] 21st century dramatic due.” (www.latimes.com). Dominique Morisseau (b. 1979), actress, award-winning writer, recent MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” recipient (2018) and author of some dozen plays, found herself among the ranks of the “Top 20 Most Produced Playwrights in America” during 2015-2016. More recently, she has been a story editor for the TV series, Shameless, on Showtime. Skeleton Crew enjoyed its world premiere in 2016 with the Atlantic Theatre Company at the Off-Broadway Linda Gross Theater in New York City, winning the Obie Award Special Director, in collaboration with Ruben Santiago Hudson. The play has since been produced widely throughout the country at many regional playhouses, (Detroit ’67, the first play in the Detroit Cycle, was produced at The Stagecrafters in 2017).
Performance dates are: Friday, February 4 ̶ Sunday, February 20. Tickets are available at $21.00 Online (no service charge), $25.00 At-door. (Thu. eve performances 2-for-$32 Online, 2-for-$35 At-door). Students with valid ID $15.00, Seniors $22 (At-door, any performance). Groups of 15 or more are offered a reduced rate of $15.00 a ticket, paid in advance. The box office opens 45 minutes before each performance. For information call 215-247-8881; for reservations-direct call 215-247-9913. The theater is located in the heart of Chestnut Hill at 8130 Germantown Ave. Visit website for details: www.thestagecrafters.org.
Special Audience Advisory: Please refer to our current Covid-19 restrictions policy posted on our website.
Theater/Organization: THE STAGECRAFTERS
Theater Address: 8130 GERMANTOWN AVE PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania 19118 (Map It)
Theater Phone: (215) 247-8881
