Jonathan Popp
Chelle (Nyajai Ellison) and Sly (Jalen Thomas) begin a romance amid the turmoil.
An award-winning play set against the racially charged backdrop of the civil rights movement and the Motown era follows a family trying to survive in a conflict-ridden city.
The Wisconsin premiere of Detroit ’67, produced by Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre, opens Oct. 27 and runs through Nov. 12 at the Bartell Theatre. Named for the location and year of the third most devastating riot in U.S. history, the play centers around Chelle (Nyajai Ellison) and her brother Lank (Maxton Young-Jones), who operate an unlicensed after-hours joint in their basement to make ends meet.
At the time, after-hours joints (also known as blind pigs) served as an alternative to bars, which African Americans were effectively banned from entering and owning. As the siblings risk the threat of police raids and reluctantly employ an enigmatic, out-of-place white woman, the play hints at a budding romance amid the growing civil turmoil. Detroit ‘67 personalizes the tense environment that resulted in five days of massive civil disturbance. When the riots ended, 43 people had died, 1,189 were injured, more than 7,000 were arrested, and 2,000 buildings were destroyed.
The play, penned by Detroit native Dominique Morisseau, won the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. Its classic soundtrack features the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Although it was set a generation ago, many of the racial themes in Detroit ‘67 resonate today.
“The striking thing about this play is the scenes are still happening in 2016,” says Dana Pellebon, the play’s director and a fixture in the Madison theater scene since 2000. She has worked with Broom Street Theater and Mercury Players, directed for Forward Theater Company and produced three local plays that traveled to the New York Fringe Festival.
In the past year, several reports have identified Wisconsin, a state with a white majority, as having the country’s highest wage and achievement gaps between blacks and whites, as well as the highest black incarceration rate.
Pellebon, who is black, says there’s a misperception in Madison that the pool of actors of color is small. She says the theater community would benefit from casting more people of color as well as staging plays, like Detroit ’67, that speak to their experiences.
“Being a different color doesn’t change the fact that we are all living this life together,” says Pellebon. “We all have a family that we are worried about; we all have struggles on a day-to-day basis.”
Pellebon says she sees Madison’s culture moving in a more inclusive direction. For example, she was encouraged to see that Theatre LILA’s upcoming production of Big Fish casts people of color in traditionally white roles.
“Part of empathy is learning that just because this isn’t your experience doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of hearing,” Pellebon says.
A distinguished group of speakers is lined up for post-production discussions, including Sabrina “Heymiss Progress” Madison, creator of Madison’s Black Women’s Leadership Conference and the Black Business Expo; UW-Madison Afro-American Studies Department professor Sandra Adell; and noted UW-Madison education scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings.
Editor's note: The online version of the story was corrected to indicate that Dana Pellebon is the director of the show, not the producer.
