Detroit at Woolly Mammoth Theatre

Detroit

Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St NW Washington

Recently laid off, Ben starts an e-business from his suburban home while his wife, Mary, keeps up with the Joneses. But when mysterious new neighbors Sharon and Kenny arrive, the façade of their upwardly mobile lives begins to crack. Soon they find themselves increasingly pulled towards their wild new friends-to incendiary effect.

Thru - Oct 6, 2013

Price: $25 - $87

Show Type: Dark Comedy

Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes with no intermission

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Detroit Reviews

Average Rating based on 7 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...“Detroit” insinuates itself intriguingly into this slightly creepy yet familiar genre. If it doesn’t break entirely new ground, it makes for both resonant social commentary and a meaty showcase for five actors. (The fifth is the reliably effective and newly svelte Michael Willis as an original homeowner.) Vreeke and Woolly have cast “Detroit” exceptionally well. It’s essential that all four inhabitants of these two households compel us to believe that the force that brings them together is not wholly to be trusted, that something other than companionship is coaxing them out of their isolation, weaving them more tightly into each other’s lives than happens in most neighborhoods these days."

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- Peter Marks

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...This area premier of Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit falls on the recent news of the city of Detroit declaring bankruptcy and is the perfect examination of the nation’s current economic crisis. With rich characterizations that unearth the desperation in all human beings when it comes to financial stability and surviving, this production is a firecracker to anchor their new season. Directed by John Vreeke, Detroit provides a comical yet deeply profound look at the way humans become defined by their economic situation."

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- Amanda Gunther

WeLoveDC - Highly Recommended

"...In between the laughs L'Amour's message shines through. In Detroit all the characters deal with vices and a sense of quiet desperation, but it is a battle they each fight alone. L'Amour's view is that there is no more sense of neighborly community and no reason to bother your neighbor for anything anymore. Not even a cup of sugar."

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- Patrick Pho

DramaUrge - Highly Recommended

"...The structure of the play feels like a musical composition, with periods of extreme verbal speed alternating with slower, more thoughtful pacing. Sound designer Christopher Baine portends the mood with his cello riffs at the outset and accompanying the fast-forward action between scenes. The work builds toward a striking climax, following with a quieter coda. Regarding the latter, the playwright has tacked on a deus ex machina ending, in the form of a Fifth Man (played by Michael Willis) who ties up some of the play's loose ends. While it does give the play some closure, the expository nature of the writing sounds strained, as though the message - urban decline in general and Detroit in particular - might have been missed. "

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- John Glass

Curtain Up - Somewhat Recommended

"...The perfect set is also illuminated well by Colin K. Bills. John Vreeke's direction is crisp and the actors deliver well-paced, convincing performances. But the play is tedious and riddled with cliches. For me, the fact that it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 diminishes the stature of the Prize."

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- Susan Davidson

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...The beauty of D’Amour’s play is that its human failure never felt so good: you don’t often get a chance to laugh at other people’s misery so loud or so often and not feel guilty afterwards. When at the end, she sends in her Deus ex machine she does so not to save the day, but to put these folks out of their misery."

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- Robert Michael Oliver

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Lisa D’Amour challenges our wistful notions of home and suburban escapism in her chaotically funny and disruptive play Detroit, its sense of teeter-totter collapse masterfully rendered under the direction of John Vreeke leading a fierce cast.

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- Jayne Blanchard