Tomya Williams

SPCH 11100

Professor Van Putten

22nd April, 2025

Detroit ‘67 by Dominique Morisseau

The play Detroit ‘67 was created by Dominique Morisseau and  directed by Unshal’e Nelson and Leslie Morales. The play follows  siblings Lank and Chelle as they navigate life in Detroit in 1967 as racial tension rises.

The play had a small cast of  five characters.The main character,Lank, is a dreamer. The character is played by Desir Delos.Lank  along with his best friend Sly ,played by Jewels Galindo, both want more in life and welcome change. This is seen as they invest all they have in buying a bar. Lank’s sister ,Chelle, played by Danah Hardison, is the opposite of her brother. She is afraid of  change and accepts things as they are.Chelle’s close friend, Bunny, played by Shaena Gibson, acts as comedic relief in the play.  All the characters in the play are African American whereas the character Caroline, played by Darby O’Donell, is a white woman.

 Caroline acts as  the love interest of Lank.Lank and Caroline’s relationship is a vital part of the story considering the main conflict involves racial tension between the African Americans  and the police. Despite this they are able to find love and have a connection despite having different backgrounds.

My favorite performances are by the actresses for Bunny and Chelle. Bunny is supposed to be the comedic relief  and   Shaena Gibson really delivered that in her performance. She did not have as many parts as the rest of the cast but she delivered every line perfectly and she was very fun to watch.I really enjoyed Chelle’s vocal variety. Danah Hardison perfectly conveyed this character.When Lank and Sly are attacked by the police resulting in  Sly’s death she gives a powerful performance as she grieves him.  When Caroline is about to leave because of the chaos ,Danah Hardison captures Chelle’s fear and anger as she highlights how different Caroline and Lank are and why their relationship will only bring trouble.The actress also has an amazing singing  voice as she ends the play with a beautiful song. The entire cast gave an amazing performance but it was hard for me to understand Lank at certain parts of the play. His performance was great but his enunciation could have been better.

All the scenes took place in the basement.  The set designer,Joel Rosario, did an incredible job. The setting was very detailed and actually resembled a basement. This is especially impressive because the area was very small. The production and assistant stage manager Tiago Ortega and Elizabeth Arjok , respectively, and the many stage hands also did an outstanding  job as the play flowed smoothly from scene to scene. The sound design by Jociel Tambone was good but in some scenes the music was too loud, which made it hard to hear the dialogue.  The costume design ,done by Marlyn Santos, was not attention grabbing but was suitable considering the play’s setting. The lighting designer ,Saira Velez, also  did an amazing job. The lighting really set the tone and mood in the scenes where  Chelle grieves Sly and  where she sings. It  emphasized Chelle’s emotion and allowed the audience to feel her pain as the setting darkens focusing light only on her.

This play was  enjoyable and  shows how people were affected by the conflict .It explores Racial injustice ,trauma and change. It is  worth the watch and its themes leave you sitting with many emotions and thoughts about the injustice African Americans still face to this day.