Skeleton Crew is aptly titled. The social drama by talented newcomer Dominique Morisseau deals with the death of a Detroit auto factory whose workers are about to be dumped on a scrap heap. The play, now in a West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse, is set in 2008, the year of the big economic crash in the USA. The human consequence of capitalism’s catastrophic failure falls on the four African-American workers, all of whom are brilliantly acted by the play’s cast. (One of the quartet, Caroline Stefanie Clay, performed in an earlier production of the play in Washington, DC.) Clay plays Faye, a heavyset, sassy lesbian who has worked on the line for 29 years and knows everything there is about the making of cars. By dint of her seniority and forceful personality, she is Queen Mother to her brood, which includes Dez (Amari Cheatom), Shanita (Kelly McCreary), and Reggie (DB Woodside). We meet them in the break room of the factory, depicted with uncanny realism thanks to Rachel Myers’s detailed multi-level set, the top layer of which shows the moving line itself. The main plot point is the rumored closure of the factory. Is it really going to happen? Can something be done to prevent it from happening? Faye believes that the workers and their union (Local 67) can do just that, if they stick together and fight back against management. On her side is Reggie, the foreman whose position is compromised by dint of his white collar. Although he is a close, longtime friend of Faye’s—and is an African-American with working-class roots—he works for management and is expected to follow the company line. An honorable, decent man, he suffers greatly from this crisis of conscience, this walking of the “thin line” between workers and bosses. Reggie also has a hard time dealing with Dez, a rebellious and angry young man who clearly sees the imminent collapse of the plant and is scornful of Reggie’s Uncle Tom-like prevarications. More or less on his side is Shanita, who, despite being pregnant (and single), is an optimist who loves her job and can’t believe she is about to lose it. The personal and political clashes between the four deeply-drawn characters in Skeleton Crew comprise the essence of the play. Morisseau’s dialogue is snappy and fiery, shot through with African-American wit and wisdom, and always revelatory of character, always going deeper and deeper into the heart and soul of these embattled workers. The production also greatly benefits from McGregor’s assured direction and from the atmospheric contributions of light designer Pablo Santiago and sound designer Everett Elton Bradman. Together these craftsmen, joined by the remarkable cast, have turned Skeleton Crew into one of the best local productions of the year.
