PlayMakers recreates Detroit in 2008 with new production "Skeleton Crew"

PlayMakers Repertory Company’s newest production, "Skeleton Crew," previewed Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The show, which was released in 2017, has received acclaim recently as the playwright gathers awards — and it’s the new buzz in the arts community at UNC.

Professor Kathryn Hunter-Williams, who has been a member of the PlayMakers Repertory Company for 19 seasons, will play the lead role of Faye. Hunter-Williams teaches in the drama department and recently joined the PlayMakers artistic staff as company artistic associate. 

"Skeleton Crew" is set in Detroit, Michigan on the cusp of the Great Recession of 2008, but Hunter-Williams said the economic pain is already being felt by the characters. The action revolves around four main characters ranging from their early twenties to late fifties who work in an automotive factory where they fall in and out of trouble, laughs and familial bonds. 

Faye is a union leader and longtime employee of the the auto-stamping plant. Hunter-Williams said that she is excited to portray such a unique character. 

“She’s beautiful,” Hunter-Williams said. “What’s so interesting for Faye is that she’s an older African American character and we don’t really have a lot of roles written like that. It’s a great character relationship drama. You have these four kind of different generations all together in this one play. Those were the things that piqued my interest.”

Professor Michele Hoyman is offering extra credit to students enrolled in her first-year seminar, "The American Worker: Sociology, Politics and History of Labor in the United States," if they attend the play.

“I thought it was a great idea because the theater gives an opportunity to present a narrative on a personal level,” Hoyman said. “I thought the theater version of labor problems would be much more compelling than just a reading.” 

First-year Hallie Phillips said the class themes related strongly to the show.

“We talk about labor law and dealing with unions,” Phillips said. “'Skeleton Crew is really relevant to what we are learning. We spent our whole first unit talking about unions and the effect they have on the work force and people that are in them versus not in them.”

Phillips said she plans to attend the show early sometime this month and believes that it will be a good extension to her class-based knowledge. 

“It’s giving us a real-life example of what we are learning,” Phillips said. “I think that’s a good thing to have in any type of class.”

On Oct. 24, the PlayMakers Company and the Stone Center are hosting a "young people" night in the hopes that students will attend, particularly students from the Detroit area. 

“We’d like to invite them to encourage them to be in a post-show conversation,” Hunter-Williams said. “We’re hoping to get their perspective on the play and the environment and the situations, because it’s all about their hometown. I spent a few years of high school in Detroit, so I love the play even more for that reason. It’s so many touchstones about the city.”

Skeleton Crew is written by Detroit native Dominique Morisseau. Morisseau was named a 2018 MacArthur Fellow on Oct. 4 and will receive a "genius grant" of $625,000 to continue her artistic career as a playwright. Hunter-Williams said one reason she encourages students to come is to familiarize themselves with Morisseau's work. 

“She is a really prominent voice in the American theater right now,” Hunter-Williams said.  “Dominique’s voice is really important.”

Hoyman is a season ticket holder for PlayMakers, and said she enjoys most everything they put onstage. 

“There’s a high quality of production,” Hoyman said. “They do a wide range of material from very classical pieces to very innovative pieces.” 

Hunter-Williams  said she has been encouraging students to attend the contemporary show, which they can relate to in the modern age. 

“I’m really excited for students to see it,” Hunter-Williams said. “I keep thinking about how most [students] were kids — maybe 10 or 11 — when this was happening in the country. It’s such a great snapshot of that time and that era — it’s just a great story. I think it will be a really enjoyable piece that everyone will get a lot of it. We’ll recognized a lot of ourselves in these four characters.”

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