After several delays due to Hurricane Helene, the Georgia Southern Theatre Department will open their season with Dominique Morissea’s “Detroit 67” tonight in the Center for Art and Theatre.
“Detroit 67” is the first part of Morisseau’s “The Detroit Project”, a trilogy of plays set in Detroit. All of these plays have been awarded many accolades, with “Detroit 67” receiving the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.
Nicholas Newell, Professor of Theatre at Georgia Southern and director of the production, described the play as a very traditional American play. The story follows the story of two siblings running an after hours club in Detroit as racial tensions in the city begin to build and explode into the bloodiest race riot in America since the Civil War.
“You should come out of it laughing, crying,” cast member Bee Wipper said. “It’s definitely a thinker of a show, you should come into it with an open mind.”
“[The play] highlights all the ways that we have changed since 1967 and all the ways that we have not,” cast member and assistant director Gabby Burton said.
The play covers the events of the 1967 Detroit riot which was the bloodiest of the race riots in the United States during the summer of 1967, where over 150 race riots erupted in major cities across the country. The riot was started by a police raid on an unlicensed after hours bar, and general racial tension between black people and cops throughout the city. The riot killed 43 deaths, injured 1,189, led to over 7,200 arrests, with 400 buildings being destroyed.
“Some call it a riot, some call it a rebellion,” Newell said.
Hurricane Helene delayed tech rehearsals and the opening of the production for over a week. Despite this, Newell reiterated that he was “very confident” in his veteran actors and crew to bring the show together.
Show Dates/Times:
- 7:30 p.m.: Oct. 10, 11, 12
- 2 p.m. – Oct. 13
Tickets will be available at the door, as well as online here.
