- Dominique Morisseau
- Idris Goodwin
- Jan 13 - Feb 24, 2018
- Jan 11 - 12
- Buy Now
Yes, the events of July ’67 remain wounding and dispiriting, in part because they have been repeated. However, Morisseau’s play and Curious Theatre Company’s production — directed with verve and nuance by Idris Goodwin — is anything but. In addition to the welcome main-stage debuts of Green, Gray and Davidson, “Detroit ’67” puts two local lights front and center. Dixon and Lindsey as sister and brother anchor the play with their sibling reveries and plans, their deep differences and deeper affinity.
It’s the summer of 1967, and the soulful sounds of Motown are breaking records and breaking down barriers. Siblings Chelle and Lank make ends meet by running an unlicensed bar in their Detroit basement, a risky business as police crack down on after-hours joints in black neighborhoods. When Lank offers shelter to an injured white woman, tensions escalate both in their home and in their community—and they find themselves caught in the middle of the violent ’67 uprising. Detroit ‘67 explores a moment rife with police brutality, immense racial divide, and a powder keg of emotions.
Dates & Times
| Date | Time | Additional Information |
Production Team
Sponsors
Season Sponsors:
Bonfils-Stanton Foundation
Diana and Mike Kinsey
Shamos Family Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Detroit
Curious Content: The Boiling Point of Detroit by Emily Whalen. By the summer of 1967, the city of Detroit had reached a boiling point. In 1962, a new mayor was elected due to a groundswell of support from the black community. Jerome Cavanagh had promised an end to racial profiling and stop-and-frisk by the police. Read full article here.
Denver Public Library Recommended Resources: Check out their curated list of the sights and sounds of Detroit in the 60s.
Detroit: The Most Exciting City in America? by Reif Larsen. Detroit’s economy and auto industry were among the hardest hit after the 2008 recession, but the city is in the midst of renewal. Read it here.
Riot or Rebellion? The Debate on What to Call Detroit ’67. Bill McGraw, Detroit Free Press special writer. “Riot” if giving way to “rebellion” or some other term at the 50th anniversary of the 1967 summer of unrest in Detroit. An article discussing the historical and current perspectives on the summer of Detroit ’67 affects the terminology we use to describe it. Read here.
Detroit ’67: The Deep Scars the City Still Feels Today by Bill Mcgraw. A riot scarred Detroit tried to rebuild after 1967 but the dream of a city where black and white residents lived and worked together seemed lost. Read it here.
America’s Racial Legacy
Fighting White Supremacy Means Owning Up to American History by The Nation. “America’s putrid racism has often been cloaked by depictions intended to make it seem respectable.” Full article here.
The Sugarcoated Language of White Fragility – HuffPost, Anna Kegler
When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 6 – New York Times, Nicholas Kristof
The Racist Roots of a Way to Sell Homes – New York Times Editorial Board, April 29, 2016
Playwright
Curious Content An interview with the playwright, Dominique Morisseau, by Katie Maltais. Read it here.
In Media
- In Curious Theatre’s “Detroit ’67,” a dream deferred explodes
Yes, the events of July ’67 remain wounding and dispiriting, in part because they have been repeated. However, Morisseau’s play and Curious Theatre Company’s production — directed with verve and nuance by Idris Goodwin — is anything but. In addition to the welcome main-stage debuts of Green, Gray and Davidson, “Detroit ’67” puts two local lights front and center. Dixon and Lindsey as sister and brother anchor the play with their sibling reveries and plans, their deep differences and deeper affinity.
- REVIEW: Detroit '67
“Detroit ‘67” is layered and rich. It crackles with topicality. Alas, the issues are just as relevant today, 51 years later...“Detroit ‘67” is absorbing from first groove to final, mournful plea.
- REVIEW: Curious Continues Social-Issue Exploration With Detroit ’67
Detroit ’67 is in large part a character study, with Chelle at its heart. She is given a quietly moving performance by Jada Suzanne Dixon, who makes her both sturdy and vulnerable, self-sacrificing and unable to consider her own happiness, but at the same time a bit of a smothering influence.
- REVIEW: Detroit '67
Morisseau insightfully shows how the poisonous atmosphere of American society—cultivated by the white power structure employing policemen who arrest blacks to vent their racism—can drive a wedge into even the most genuinely colorblind relationships. But as we step back from the particulars of this insightful, well-written, and impressively performed piece, we see that the larger the picture, the worse it gets.
- REVIEW: Race In Your Face, Detroit ’67, A Look Into Our Collective Soul Then & Now
While often humorous, Detroit 67′, directed by Idris Goodwin, reminds us that we have not come all that far from a time when the color of your skin defined who you are as a human being and more often than not determined how successful you would become as an individual, if you allowed yourself to believe that.
- Idris Goodwin is going places: From Curious' 'Detroit '67' to Denver Center
Plays. Raps. Essays. Poems. Film. Idris Goodwin is a storyteller at heart. Performance and words are his jam. "Why not?" is his constant refrain.
- REVIEW: Detroit '67
Once again Curious Theatre does what they do best – produce a compelling script with an exceptional ensemble in a thought-provoking production that engages audiences into a conversation. You may laugh, you may cry but as is the tradition and pride with every Curious Theatre production – you will feel!