Review: Studio Theatre's Diluted SKELETON CREW

Nine years have passed since the Great Recession and it now seems that the American theatre has turned its attention to the plight of the American worker. That was certainly the case with Arena Stage's magnificent production of Sweat last year and now with Studio Theatre's latest offering, Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau.

Skeleton Crew has all the makings of a great drama: vibrant characters, crackling dialogue, and an engaging and identifiable story, which is why it is such a shame that the play fails to achieve the heart wrenching effect of the aforementioned, Sweat or Arthur Miller's Death of Salesman. Morisseau certainly has well-founded ambitions for this play. The decline of American manufacturing and the effect on the American worker is as ripe a topic for the stage as ever, but a clumsy plot filled with unnecessary plotlines, and an inherent cynicism, prevents the play from reaching its full potential.

Skeleton Crew is the final part of Morisseau's The Detroit Cycle, a trilogy of plays set at various moments in the city's history. The play is set in the breakroom of an auto manufacturing plant in Detroit, examining what happens when rumors of a plant shutdown start to swirl. Faye (Caroline Stefanie Clay), the longtime plant veteran and union representative; Reggie (Tyee Tilghman), the shop foreman; Dez (Jason Bowen), a stubborn, yet capable worker with dreams of owning a business; and Shanita (Shannon Dorsey), a pregnant, hardworking floor worker, must confront feelings of pride, survival, loyalty and family against an uncertain employment future.

While Morisseau was clearly inspired by August Wilson's Century Cycle, a series of 10 plays examining the African American experience in Pittsburgh during each decade of the twentieth century, it is Miller's Salesman which Skeleton Crew channels most. Faye, played with fierce determination and heart by Clay, may be the 2008 (the year the play is set) version of Willy Loman. Here is a woman who's trying to make it to her thirtieth year at the plant, simply for the sake of a better retirement package. The feeling of injustice is palpable amongst the audience.

And yet, Morriseau interjects a level of skepticism, cynicism and manipulation into Faye that stops the play from having a truly profound impact. We need to root for these characters, unconditionally, not wonder what they have up their sleeve.

Adding to this mistrust is the failure by Morriseau to completely rectify each character's conflicts. They few that she does resolve, and which could greatly enhance the play, are anticlimactic at best. No two scenes better illustrate this points then when Skeleton Crew addresses the mystery surrounding Dez's backpack and Faye's living situation. The latter of which is entirely predictable, diminishing the play's effect, causing our minds to wonder.

Studio's small, yet mighty and extremely talented ensemble elevate Morisseau's story with dynamic performances that do make the play worth seeing. The dialogue crackles with authenticity alternating between wit and tension, with the melodrama never far off.

Next to Clay, Tilghman is the heart of the story as a manager trying to do right by his employees while also serving management. Tilghman's face is racked with stress and fear as a man trying to protect his two families, those at home and those at work. Morriseau provides him with one of the richer backstories where we learn about his relationship with Faye and why it goes beyond that of foreman and union representative.

Bowen turns in a stoic performance as Dez while Dorsey is captivating as Shanita. One of Skeleton Crew's more frustrating moments is that we are denied a satisfactory resolution to their character's storylines. Yes, we learn what generally happens to them, but there is a major moment in Act II and we are left wondering what happens after that.

Bringing us into the world of an auto stamping plant is Tim Brown's monumental set design. The break room is complete with checkerboard linoleum floors and all the posters one tends to ignore in the work place. However it is what is behind the break room that gives this production it's heart - a series of automated rows with metal shells of car doors line the left side of the stage, moving in-between scenes with sparks flying. Suddenly the pride and hard work each character speaks about becomes real as does the realization that becoming unemployed is about much more than losing a job.

I went into Skeleton Crew with anticipation. Having grown up in Pittsburgh and watching the Steel City industry collapse as a child, the characters in Skeleton Crew were more than just characters to me. They were friends and family, neighbors and civic leaders, people who worked hard for the promise of decent pay and benefits, only to watch that promise dissolve when their jobs did.

Skeleton Crew certainly is a story worth telling; however it could be more potent and more impactful that it actually is. The story is one we've heard many times and Morisseau has only scratched the surface. Here's hoping she digs deeper in future works.

Runtime is two hours with one intermission

Skeleton Crew runs thru October 8th at Studio Theatre - 1501 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005. For tickets please call (202) 332-3300 or click here.

Photo: Jason Bowen and Caroline Stefanie Clay. Credit: Teresa Wood.

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