GASP Theatre Co. Presents DETROIT, Now thru 8/8

Theatre Co. will present Detroit by Lisa D'Amour tonight, July 31-August 1 and August 6-8, 2014, at 7:30 pm.

Detroit, a recent Pulitzer Prize finalist, is a bittersweet comedy about the crumbling of the American middle class. In a first-ring suburb just outside a city that might be Detroit, Ben and Mary see sudden signs of life at the deserted house next door and invite their new neighbors Sharon and Kenny over for a barbecue. Ben and Mary are holding their life together despite Ben's recent unemployment and Mary's burgeoning alcoholism. Sharon and Kenny met at rehab, neither is employed, and they don't own a stick of furniture. The quintessential American backyard party quickly turns into something more dangerous-and filled with potential.

"The subtlety and nuance that is intrinsic to Detroit is exciting enough, but the fact that the script also offers laughs, shocks, and serious questions about how people live make it a particularly enticing project," says director Jack Prather. "Our actors, technicians, and I will have a great privilege in creating the sort of electricity that can only come from this sort of crackling theatre."

GASP Theatre Co. was founded by Kevin Ferguson, Allison Driskill and Jack Prather in 2014 with the purpose of connecting alumni of the Cardinal Gibbons High School drama program with actors from the Raleigh acting community to create a network of theatre professionals.

"Detroit is an appealing choice for this summer's GASP production because of what the show says about the fraying of the communal fabric and the dark impact that has on the way we live," says Ferguson. "The melancholy that permeates these couples' lives seems rooted in the fundamental human need for community, belonging and fellowship they are so desperately fighting for-and don't seem to have the structure or resources to acquire."

Performances will be at 7:30 pm on July 31-August 1 and August 6-8, 2015 in the Cardinal Gibbons High School Studio Theat