The Detroit Project: Three Plays

by Dominique Morisseau

Three provocative dramas, Paradise Blue , Detroit ’67 and Skeleton Crew , make up Dominique Morisseau’s The Detroit Project , a play cycle examining the sociopolitical history of Detroit. Each play sits at a cross-section—of race and policing, of labor and recession, of property ownership and gentrification—and comes alive in the characters and relationships that look toward complex, hopeful futures. With empathetic storytelling and an ear for the voices of her home community, Morisseau brings to life the soul of Detroit, past and present.

Genres: Plays, Historical Fiction, Theatre, Book Club, Fiction, Drama

240 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2018

About the author

Dominique Morisseau is an American playwright and actress from Detroit, Michigan. She has authored over nine plays, three of which are part of a cycle titled The Detroit Projects. She is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship for 2018.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent trilogy of plays by Dominique Morisseau. Each takes place in Detroit, with settings staggered in the years 1949, 1967, and 2008. Reading these in succession was helpful, as collectively we see a full picture of Morosseau’s project. I thought each was better than the last. For one thing, they become more explicitly political as they move forward in time. We move from a character-driven work set during Detroit’s emergence from WWII to a work set in the year of the 1967 Rebellion to a work set in the first year of the Great Recession. Morisseau’s concerns become more intersectional as she goes along, as there is a more explicit class dimension, particularly in the last one.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You tell me how to do one thing without the other! You tell me how to fight and stand on some kinda ground in this industry without putting something massive on the line to do it! Ain't no way to fight without jumping on the ---damn grenade! Ain't no other way and you know it."

The Detroit Project: Is a trilogy of extremely good plays set in Detroit in different eras that concern race and policing, labor and recession and property ownership and gentrification.

Paradise Blue took place in 1949.
Detroit '67 during the riots.
Skeleton Crew in 2008.

All three plays were intriguing to me because of the somewhat mysterious ending's to all three. However the one I could relate the most to was Detroit '67. I remember being 5 years old and asking my dad over and over again what was happening, and why did us kids have to leave our home and the city. ( Temporarily.)

[Marci Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful trilogy of plays set in Detroit during different eras. It’s sometimes hard to read plays because you don’t get a lot of the background details that make up a scene. But her characters are so specifically drawn that it doesn’t really matter where they are.

I also got to see the second play produced locally last month and it was amazing.

[Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, touching and really good!

[Caleb Dunson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obsessed

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm in love. I loved all three of these plays, and, thus, I love Dominique Morisseau. This book of three on the theme of Detroit has so many ear marks right now because I ear mark great scenes and monologues for my students, and all three of these plays are chock full of them. I love reading a perspective on the working class that feels so authentic and true with all of the intangibles that are hard to write and talk about. I think my favorite was PARADISE BLUE set in 1949 Detroit because it talked about art in a way that I think is hard to write and communicate. She hit the nail on the head with the artistic process and ownership over one's art. I appreciated the points of history she chose to focus on, and I appreciated how she dealt with de-industrialization. Lastly, I think the part of Faye in SKELETON CREW, should be every African-American woman's dream role. It is a tour-de-force and has some of the best lines in theater I have read in a long time. Anyway, love, love, love...

[Eli]

Honest and intimate portraits of Detroit at three distinct moments in its history, with characters that leapt off the page and grabbed me hard. Morisseau cuts into the heart of the universal by homing in on the particular.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked all three, but liked Skeleton Crew best. I miss reading plays. Need to make sure I see them performed someday.

[Veronica Polsgrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent trilogy of plays, love that Detroit is at the center.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic plays that touch on the history of Detroit. Nice to find a contemporary playwright that reads like August Wilson. There were a few cliched moments, but overall, wonderful homage to the city.

[Darren · Rating 2 out of 5]

For Paradise Blue

[Leah H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

three beautiful plays. each incredibly heartbreaking.