Review: Detroit
Detroit, written by Lisa D'Amour, produced by Philadelphia Theatre Company, featuring Genevieve Perrier, Steven Rishard, K.O. DelMarcelle, Matteo Scammell and Tom McCarthy, set by Vince Mountain, directed by Maria Mileaf, reviewed by Wendy Rosenfield.
In Detroit, everything that's not right there, right in front of its characters' faces, is perpetually out of reach. Even Vince Mountain's set reinforces this idea of people just barely holding on: We see the couples' homes, one neat and tidy, the other dirty and derelict, but when either door opens, we see right through to the street. They're both flimsy facades, with exposed support frames.
Detroit doesn't necessarily occur in Detroit; its script names "a 'first-ring' suburb outside of a mid-sized American city." The symbolism of D'Amour's title and its lack of commitment illustrates exactly what does and doesn't work in this compelling comic drama.
D'Amour's characters reek of desperation, but she insults them with easy laughs: a silly dance, pratfalls, grandiose speeches. She makes sharp points, then blunts them, particularly in Detroit's final scene, when Tom McCarthy, as Kenny's uncle Frank, mourns a changed neighborhood.
Maria Mileaf's direction moves in fits and starts, but the show's loveliest moment, when Sharon and Kenny hold up a flaming 2-by-4 and dance away the middle class in a surreal, destructive pas de deux, hits hard and remains long after D'Amour herself shies away from its impact.
Presented by Philadelphia Theatre Company through Nov. 9 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St.
Tickets: $46-$59.
Information: 215-985-0420 or philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.