- 2023-10-08
Skeleton Crew | BAY AREA PREMIERE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARIN THEATRE COMPANY Dominique Morisseau’s SKELETON CREW MILL VALLEY, CA—Marin Theatre Company (MTC) proudly continues its 51st season with the Bay Area Premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s powerful Skeleton Crew— winner of MTC’s 2014 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize—in co-production with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Skeleton Crew is the third installment in Morisseau’s 3-play cycle, The Detroit Project (alongside Paradise Blue and Detroit ‘67); a trilogy reminiscent of August Wilson’s Century Cycle, with all three set in Morisseau’s hometown of Detroit, Michigan. In Skeleton Crew, the harsh effects of 2008’s recession unfold for four employees at the last small auto plant still operating in Detroit; a once-thriving factory that is now barely staffed to run the assembly lines. Faye, a tough old-timer looks to hit 30 years and a full benefits package; Shanita, a pregnant young woman braves motherhood on her own; and Dez, a smooth-talking, soon-to-be entrepreneur seeks riskier opportunities. Pride in their work, dreams for the future, and lack of other options keep them on the line, despite news drifting in of other plants closing and fears that theirs may be next. Caught between his loyalties to his crew and his career, plant manager Reggie is pressured to keep discipline, as across the city, abandoned plants are stripped by thieves. Skeleton Crew, which the New York Times calls “a deeply moral and deeply American play,” examines the casualties of commerce and the everyday people whose lives hang in the balance. New York-based director Jade King Carroll, whose previous credits include developing and directing Morisseau’s work—most recently, Sunset Baby—will bring Skeleton Crew to life at MTC and TheatreWorks. MTC will also welcome back familiar Bay Area favorites—Margo Hall as Faye, Lance Gardner as Reggie, Tristan Cunningham as Shanita, and Christian Thompson as Dez—for a compelling production that overflows with rhythm and poetry, giving new meaning to what we know of the Motor City, and of humanity itself. More About Playwright Dominique Morisseau When asked about her characters, Morisseau explains “‘I can’t write a story until I know what my characters are willing to fight or die for.’” Her dedication to bringing the people she knows, loves, or encounters to the stage makes for honest and empathetic depictions. For her hometown, especially, she writes with compassion; a “compassion for all of them. For these fusions of aunts and uncles, of cousins and friends, the people she remembers from her upbringing and those she’s barely glimpsed on the street, people who are, she [says], ‘being monstrified by the rest of the country. I love them and I want to write them.’” Morisseau’s experience as a dancer, slam poet, and actor—all of which she began fostering while growing up in Detroit—are an intrinsic part of Skeleton Crew. The script overflows with richness of rhythm, sound and language, and conveys a passionate admiration for the people who call the Motor City home. Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project (a 3‐Play Cycle) which includes the following plays: Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre), and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre), Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre) and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is also the book writer on the new musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Dominique is alumna of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group, Women’s Project Lab, and Lark Playwrights Workshop and has developed work at Sundance Lab and Eugene O’Neil Playwrights Conference. Her work has been commissioned by the Hip Hop Theater Festival, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Women’s Project, South Coast Rep, People’s Light and Theatre, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Penumbra Theatre. She recently served as Co‐Producer on the Showtime series “Shameless.” Awards include: Stavis Playwriting Award, NAACP Image Award, Spirit of Detroit Award, Weissberger Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, TEER Spirit Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama (Detroit ’67), Audelco and OBIE Award (Skeleton Crew). More About Director Jade King Carroll Jade King Carroll: Dominique Morisseau’s Sunset Baby (City Theatre); Autumn’s Harvest (Lincoln Center Institute); Intimate Apparel (McCarter Theatre-Best Show in New Jersey for 2017); From the Author of (The Rep); Hartford Stage: The Piano Lesson, Having Our Say (co-production with Long Wharf Theatre); Man (Portland Stage); The Piano Lesson (McCarter Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun (Juilliard & Perseverance); The Tempest (Chatauqua Theater Company); Seven Guitars (People’s Light and Theatre & Point Park University); King Hedley (Portland Playhouse); Mr Chickee’s Funny Money (Atlantic Theater); Janice Underwater (Premiere Stages); The Etymology of Bird (CitiParks Summer Stages); The Piano Lesson (Cape Fear Regional Theater); alondra was here (The Wild Project); Cherry Smoke (Theatre Row); Sex on Sunday (BE Company & Urban Stages); The Basset Table (Adelphi); Marisol (West Virginia University); The History of Light, Samuel J&K, The Summer House (Passage Theatre); The Persians, Splittin’ the Raft (People’s Light & Theatre); Spit (Intar); A Member of the Wedding (Tennessee Williams Theater Festival in Provincetown); Associate Director for A Streetcar Named Desire and The Gin Game (Broadway). Jade has developed works with playwrights Kirsten Greenidge, Chisa Hutchinson, Aurin Squire, Jonathan Payne, Kia Corthron, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Joshua Allen, Dominique Morisseau, Kara Lee Corthron, James McManus, Darren Cannady, Nikole Salter, Jocelyn Bioh, Tom Matthew Wolfe, Keith Joseph Adkins, Janine Nabers, Kelli Goff, Don X. Nguyen, C.A. Johnson, Rob Zellers, Liza Jessie Peterson and many others, culminating with readings and workshops at Huntington Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The O’Neill Theater Center, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Two River Theatre, New Dramatists, Second Stage Theatre, The Lark, Primary Stages, Time Warner New Play Festival, LABryinth, PlayPenn, Joe’s Pub, Goethe Institute, Dramatist’s Guild, Premiere Stages, The New Black Fest, New Jersey Rep, Luna Stage, Playwright’s Realm, Ars Nova, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Naked Angels, NYMF, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Lincoln Center Institute, and many others. In 2010 Jade was presented with the Paul Green Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Professional from the National Theatre Conference and The Estate of August Wilson. Past Fellowships & Awards: TCG New Generations Future Leader, New York Theatre Workshop, Van Lier, Second Stage Theatre, Women’s Project, McCarter Theatre and Gates Millennium Scholar. WHAT WHO FEATURING * Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association WHEN PERFORMANCES Evenings Matinees WHERE ABOUT Tickets $22 - $60 Discounts for seniors, teens, military families, Marin County teachers and groups of 7 or more are available. Contact the Box Office for more details. Press Photos will be available for Skeleton Crew on Friday, January 26, 2017. marintheatre.org | (415) 388-5208 | boxoffice@marintheatre.org MTC ENGAGEMENT EVENTS ACCESS For visually impaired patrons, Large Print playbills are available with one week’s advance notice. To request a Large Print playbill, call MTC’s Box Office, (415) 388-5208, or use the California Telecommunications Relay Service by dialing “711.” For hearing impaired patrons, amplified sound Assistive Listening Devices are available. Our system will also work with personal assistive hearing devices equipped with a T-coil. CONTACT ABOUT MTC PRESS CONTACT #####
December 20, 2017
In association with
THEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY
Presents the Bay Area Premiere of
CALENDAR LISTING
Theater | Performing Arts
Skeleton Crew
By Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Jade King Carroll
*Margo Hall: FAYE
*Lance Gardner: REGGIE
*Tristan Cunningham: SHANITA
*Christian Thompson: DEZ
January 25 - February 18
OPENING NIGHT: Tuesday, January 30, at 7:30pm
Tuesday - Sunday, 7:30pm
Sunday (Preview), January 28, 4pm
Thursday (Perspectives), February 8, 1pm
Saturday, February 3 & 17, 2pm
Sunday, February, 4, 11 & 18, 2pm
Marin Theatre Company | 397 Miller Ave | Mill Valley, CA 94941
At the start of the Great Recession, one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit is on shaky ground. Each of the workers must make choices on how to move forward if their plant goes under. Shanita must decide how she'll support herself and her unborn child, Faye must decide how and where she'll live, and Dez must figure out how to make his ambitious dreams a reality. Power dynamics shift as their manager Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family, and by the red tape in his office. Powerful and tense, Skeleton Crew is the third installment of Dominique Morisseau’s The Detroit Project trilogy, which also includes Detroit ’67 and Paradise Blue.
Marin Theatre Company is proud to provide open captioned performances of each of the plays in our mainstage series on the Thursday matinee. The open captioned performance for Skeleton Crew will be Thursday, February 8, at 1:00pm.
marintheatre.org | (415) 388-5208 | boxoffice@marintheatre.org
Marin Theatre Company is the Bay Area’s premier mid-sized theater and the leading professional theater in the North Bay. We produce a six-show season focused on new American plays. We are committed to the development and production of new plays, with a comprehensive New Play Program that includes productions of world premieres, two nationally recognized annual playwriting awards and readings and workshops by the nation’s best emerging and established playwrights. Our numerous education programs serve more than 10,000 students from over 40 Bay Area schools each year. MTC strives to create intimate, powerful and emotional experiences that engage audiences to discuss new ideas and adopt a broader point of view. We believe in taking risks and inspiring people to participate in live theater, regardless of personal means. MTC celebrates the intellectual curiosity of our community, and we believe that theater is an important tool to help build empathy. MTC was founded in 1966 and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Kate Robinson, Communications & Public Relations Associate
(415) 322-6029 | kater@marintheatre.org