Photo Flash: PlayMakers Presents Dominique Morisseau's SKELETON CREW

PlayMakers Repertory Company proudly presents Dominique Morisseau's "Skeleton Crew," the searing dramatic final installment in her Detroit Trilogy. Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, the production runs from October 10 to 28, 2018.

"Skeleton Crew" transports us to the start of the Great Recession in 2008, where one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit is in trouble. What will this mean for its blue collar workforce? The plant's line workers have become family, but alliances and power dynamics shift as each of them must make difficult decisions when they see the writing on the wall. What choices are you willing to make to take care of you and yours, to take care of your co-workers, to survive?

"Dominique Morisseau is a master at writing about sweeping, universal issues-but in a way that makes them feel beautifully, tragically, and singularly human," said Vivienne Benesch, PlayMakers' Producing Artistic Director. "'Skeleton Crew' is very much a play of our time, in its exploration of how far each of us will go to protect our little piece of the pie. In the hands of the extraordinary Valerie Curtis-Newton, the play becomes a quiet but profound conversation-starter about what it means to be a 'worker' in America today, and to feel that 'progress' is leaving behind an entire segment of the population."

"As an artist and citizen, I believe so strongly in the power of theatre to put us in relationship with one another, and allow us to explore what brings us together as a community as well as what breaks us apart," said Curtis-Newton. "There are so many facets to the relationships in this play-family, co-workers, friends, adversaries-that give it resonance far beyond our present moment. Working with the incredible company at PlayMakers made it easy to feel safe enough to explore how we can be all those things to each other, sometimes at the same time, and yet still come out the other side."

"Skeleton Crew" features Kathryn Hunter-Williams as Faye ("Tartuffe," "Count") Samuel Ray Gates as Reg ("Dot," "Leaving Eden"), Alex Givens as Dez ("The Christians," "Sense and Sensibility"), and Shanelle Nicole Leonard as Shanita ("Tartuffe" "Intimate Apparel").

The Creative Team of "Skeleton Crew" includes: Valerie Curtis-Newton (Director; Founding Artistic Director of The Hansberry Project), Jan Chambers (Scenic Designer; "The Cake," "A Christmas Carol"), Junghyun Georgia Lee (Costume Designer; "The Cake," "Intimate Apparel"), Porsche McGovern (Lighting Designer; "Twelfth Night," "We Are Proud to Present..."), Gabriel Clausen (Sound Designer; PlayMakers debut), Dominic Abbenante (Video Designer; "Temples of Lung and Air," "The Christians"), Adam N. Versényi (Dramaturg; Chair, UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Dramatic Art) and Elizabeth Ray (Stage Manager; "The Cake," "Sense and Sensibility")

"Skeleton Crew" is recommended for ages 16 and up. For information and to purchase tickets, call 919.962.7529 or visit www.playmakersrep.org. Individual ticket prices start at $15, with student discounts.

Photo Credit: Newton Huth