Skeleton Crew
by Dominique Morisseau

Name: Skeleton Crew
Brand: Dominique Morisseau
SKU: 9780573705168
Rating: 4.11 (177 reviews)

Skeleton Crew Book Cover — Skeleton Crew Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

120 mins Present Day Role(s) for Black Actor(s) Interior Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Awards & Recognition

Tony Award

Nominee: Three 2022 Tony Awards, including Best Play

Synopsis

At the start of the Great Recession, one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit is on shaky ground.

Each of the workers have to make choices on how to move forward if their plant goes under.

Shanita has to decide how she'll support herself and her unborn child, Faye has to decide how and where she'll live, and Dez has to figure out how to make his ambitious dreams a reality.

Power dynamics shift as their manager Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family, and by the red tape in his office.

Powerful and tense, Skeleton Crew is the third of Dominique Morisseau's Detroit cycle trilogy.

Press Reviews

"A funny, humane, deeply moving drama — not so much state-of-the-nation as state-of-the-world."
— Financial Times

"Heartfelt, captivating."
— The Telegraph

"CRITIC'S PICK! “Clifford Odets' dramas come to mind and so does the great Pittsburgh cycle of August Wilson. But Skeleton Crew is squarely in the tradition of Arthur Miller...A deeply moral and deeply American play."
— The New York Times

"Like Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson before her, Morisseau creates characters who don't merely speak, they sing with the vernacular of their community. Rarely has dialogue ever felt so much like eavesdropping on an actual conversation."
— TheatreMania

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Dez Black man, mid-late 20’s, Working class man. Young hustler, playful, street-savy, and flirtatious.. Somewhere, deeply sensitive.	—	—	Black man, mid-late 20’s, Working class man. Young hustler, playful, street-savy, and flirtatious.. Somewhere, deeply sensitive.
Shanita Black woman, mid-late 20’s, Working class young woman. Pretty but not ruled by it. Hard-working. By-the-books. Believes in the work she does. Also, pregnant. Somewhere, a beautiful dreamer.	female	—	Black woman, mid-late 20’s, Working class young woman. Pretty but not ruled by it. Hard-working. By-the-books. Believes in the work she does. Also, pregnant. Somewhere, a beautiful dreamer.
Reggie Black man, late 30’s. White collar man. Studious. Dedicated. Compassionate. The Foreman. Somewhere, a fire brims.	—	—	Black man, late 30’s. White collar man. Studious. Dedicated. Compassionate. The Foreman. Somewhere, a fire brims.
Faye Black woman, mid-late 50’s, Working class woman. Tough and a lifetime of dirt beneath her nails. Somewhere, deep compassion.	female	—	Black woman, mid-late 50’s, Working class woman. Tough and a lifetime of dirt beneath her nails. Somewhere, deep compassion.