The Old Globe Theatre, Moxie Theatre and Delicia Turner Sonnenberg come together in a historic collaboration.
Opening this week at the Old Globe Theatre is the play Skeleton Crew, penned by playwright and actress Dominique Morisseau. Skeleton Crew focuses on the Great Recession and how it affected one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit, and the choices workers had to make to move forward if that plant were to shut down. It’s also the third part in a play cycle by Morriseau, set in Detroit.
The play is being done in association with San Diego’s Moxie Theatre and is being directed by Moxie’s artistic director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg.
Sonnenberg made her way to San Diego after working in NYC at the Second Stage Theatre Off Broadway and then was a part of a director’s project at the Hangar Theatre. She has been in San Diego for the last 17 years starting as a stage manager mostly for San Diego Repertory. That opportunity opened the door for her to focus on becoming an artistic director. She was awarded a TCG New Generations Grant that allowed her to work with Sam Woodhouse for a few years and that started the wheels turning for the beginnings of Moxie Theatre.
Moxie Theatre was founded in 2005 and now, 12 years later, Sonnenberg and Moxie, are getting the opportunity to work with one of the country’s most recognizable theaters, The Old Globe.
“The artistic director of the Old Globe graciously offered this opportunity,” Sonnenbeg said. “I am not only grateful as a director to direct a great play, but also as an artistic director to work in association with one of the country’s most prestigious theaters.”
Sonnenberg was familiar with Morriseau’s two other plays in the cycle, Detroit ’67 and Paradise Blue. Skeleton Crew was originally produced in April 2016 Off Broadway at The Atlantic Theatre Company in NYC and is getting its West Coast premiere here at the Globe. Morriseau was also an integral part of this project as well.
“Dominique was involved in casting and spent some time in rehearsal with us,” Sonneberg said. “I have read the other plays in the Detroit Trilogy; the strong writing drew me to this piece.”
Playing one of those conflicted plant workers is actor Brian Marable who actually resides in Detroit and has had family that actually work for the automobile business over the last 30 years.
“My grandfather (mother’s dad) and my uncle (mother’s oldest brother) both put in over 30 years a piece at Chrysler,” Marable stated. “My grandfather wasn’t around during the 2008 recession and my uncle retired a couple years prior, but the automotive crisis didn’t just affect people working at the plant. The trickle down was volatile. There were so many smaller companies that depended on outsourced car needs by the Big Three, that when they started to crumble smaller companies were going under left and right. I know several people, family and friends, who did in fact lose homes, jobs and families (due to the stresses of not being able to provide). It was definitely a sad time!”
Marable was drawn to this piece because of that but for many other reasons as well. He actually knew Morriseau while growing up and remembers her and her passion
“There are so many enticing qualities about this piece especially me being a black actor who is not only from Detroit but who still resides there,” Marable confessed. “The author Dominique and I both attended Cass Technical High School and we were both Performing Arts Majors. I remember her really making waves as a poet when we were younger. She was fierce! I was a little older but we still crossed paths within our art from time to time. It’s truly special that this amazing author has created a work of characters that are so real, so relevant and they’re based inside of real situations and times within my city. A place I was born and raised and since I was raised there, I know many people who were directly affected by the demise of the auto industry. This play is not only an incredible piece of literature but it has a special place with me. More so than the other two plays in the cycle due to the fact that I actually lived through this time and witnessed it happen.”
One of the interesting things in this collaborative venture between The Old Globe and Moxie Theatre is that Skeleton Crew works quite nicely with Moxie Theatre’s mission statement.
“Moxie’s mission is to create more diverse and honest images of women for our culture,” Sonnenberg said. “This includes producing female playwrights and exploring female characters that defy stereotypes. This play does that.”
It’s that diversity and honesty that in essence drew and attracted Marable to Morriseau’s work. In fact this is his second time working on a Morriseau piece.
“Her characters are real people and authentic,” Marable said. “She writes about our city and our people with such passion. Her characters jump off the page at you. She writes about real/relevant issues, and about real times. For instance the three shows in the cycle are all relevant/real times in Detroit’s history. I’m truly a fan of them all. When I did Detroit ‘67 in Baltimore last year I was excited at the opportunity to do a Dom (Dominique) play and it was all I thought it would be and then some. I wasn’t alive in ‘67, but I have heard many stories of the infamous ‘67 riots from my dad and other family members, and it is an unforgettable time in Detroit’s history. It still can’t compare to how connected I feel to Skeleton Crew simply because I actually lived through it, saw it, felt it; it was real! That’s why doing this piece means so much to me.”
Even though the play takes place in 2008, and in Detroit, there are many things that make its message relevant to today’s times and today’s world. Sonnenberg agrees, finding that the struggles of the working class people and Morriseau’s writing capture a time in history that will speak clearly to its audience.
“At its core the play is about working class people struggling to survive; that’s timeless,” Sonnenberg said. “The recession is recent history, and it still has an impact on the choices we make. I believe when people see this play, hear the writing, they will discover that Dominique deserves to be in the conversation that includes Childress, Hansberry, Wilson, Miller, etc. as one of the best playwrights America has produced.”
Skeleton Crew runs through May 7 at the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park, 1363 Old Globe Way in San Diego. Tickets are available at theoldglobe.org or by calling 619-234-5623.
