On the streets of Detroit during the Civil Rights Movement, one could wake from the American Dream to the sounds of gunfire.
Dominique Morisseau’s stage play “Detroit ‘67” regresses both time and culture to 1967 Detroit, Michigan, where racial discrimination boiled to a breaking point.
Every work of historical fiction carries two burdens: accuracy and emotional significance.
Historical fiction needs to work within the boundaries of the past by presenting an accurate image of how the narrative would have played out within that time period.
Dominique Morisseau has clearly done her research. The playbill is filled with information on the timelines of the Detroit Race Riots, so the play does not falter with its first burden.
More importantly, however, works of historical fiction must also present more abstract questions. If historical fiction — or any other fictional narrative — ignores asking why a story needs telling, it risks coming off as empty.
It is this hurdle, alongside the weight of a racially charged subject, that “Detroit ‘67” has to surmount.
“Detroit ‘67” is a relatively simple play on its surface.
Lank and Chelle are a brother and sister running an underground bar in 1967 Detroit. During a night driving around town, Lank offers refuge to Caroline, an injured white woman. This results in tensions both at home and in the city with the characters caught in the middle of large-scale racial violence.
It’s a two-act, three-hour straight play with one unchanging set and a cast topping at five that tells the story of a group of people facing conflict. Again, on the surface, it is small and straightforward.
However, the play becomes great in its details.
The drama starts with a cheerful, humorous tone. The characters joke and banter, set up the goals they want to achieve and dance around to funky Motown hits. As the plot thickens and violence becomes more prominent in the story, the upbeat outlook remains. It’s only at the eleventh hour that the cheery tone is dropped completely, replaced with a tone of horror and disgust at the events depicted.
This disconnect between the dark subject matter and cheerful tone drive the play’s emotional message. Motown funk plays over the sounds of rioting. Jokes about racial violence are said in the same breath as descriptions of a favorite song. Racial inequality is treated as a stepping stone along the normal path of the American Dream.
The racial violence depicted is horrifying in how normalized it is. The play delivers an important message about how casual racism can become.
“Detroit ‘67” uses a single-room set. The room contains little that draws the eye with an exception to the original artwork painted on the walls. Aside from being well done works of art, the paintings also serve the play’s story by connecting with the characters’ backstories.
The mundanity of the set contributes well to the play’s tone, but that doesn’t make it less mundane for those who don’t like such things.
The production’s lighting and music are well done for the most part. Changes in lighting are used to great effect to drive whatever emotions you’re meant to feel at any given point, and the Motown beats immerse the audience into the period.
There were moments when sound effects and music were out of sync with actions on stage, but these moments were few and far between and can be fixed in future showings.
The five leads are each amazing in their roles, with little to no problems with performances. Gerrard James’s depiction of “Lank” is the standout. He depicts an enthusiastic and ambitious businessman seeking to attain the American Dream. His humorous and serious moments come across equally balanced, contributing well to the eerie tone the play sets up.
Aside from minor sound mistakes and a dull set, “Detroit ’67” is a must-see because of its compelling performances and important, well-delivered message. The $5 ticket-price for UT students is well worth the three hour rollercoaster.
UT’s Carousel Theatre will host the drama from Feb. 27 to March 17.
