Detroit 67

The Ensemble Theatre Presents

DETROIT '67

By Dominique Morisseau

A Continuation of the 2015-2016 Follow the Dream Season

Who/What: The Ensemble Theatre continues its Follow the Dream 2015-2016 season lineup with Susan Smith Blackburn prize finalist, Playwright Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit ’67, directed by Eileen J. Morris.

It’s 1967 and almost every single Motown release has made the charts, yet the world is changing around Chelle and Lank, who run an after-hours club in the basement of their late parents’ house. Tensions mount when the siblings discover that their dreams have diverged, and their tight-knit community is threatened by the arrival of a mysterious outsider, while the city around them erupts in violence. This powerful play that unfolds at an explosive moment in our history - the race riots that ravaged the city of Detroit in 1967 - set to a vibrant soundtrack of Motown hits of the day.

Cast members include:

Kendrick “KayB” Brown, Cynthia Brown Garcia, Whitney Zangarine, Joseph “JoeP” Palmore, and LaKeisha Randle.

DETROIT '67 is written by Susan Smith Blackburn prize finalist Playwright Dominique Morisseau. Directed by Eileen J. Morris, DETROIT '67 is showing through April 17, 2016 at the Ensemble Theatre located at 3535 Main Street, Houston Texas 77002 USA. Photo courtesy of the Ensemble Theatre. For more information, click on www.EnsembleHouston.com

DETROIT '67: A Play by Dominique Morisseau

Dominique Morisseau’s play Detroit ’67 takes place during an intense time in our national and even world history. There was the Vietnam War, nuclear threats, the assassination of President Kennedy, the fight for the Voting Rights Act, and the onward push of the civil rights movement with young leaders at the helm.

Juxtaposed to these signs of the times were the chart-topping Motown hits; songs that fell upon the ears and hearts of youth and gave voice to their dreams and passions. What was it like to be young in the 60’s?

“Empowered, Emboldened, and Revolutionary” are words one Ensemble Theatre patron uses to describe his experience as a youth in Detroit during the riots.

While the play takes place specifically during the Detroit 1967 riots, it focuses on Lank and Michelle “Chelle,” a brother and sister trying to run a business together amidst the heated eruption of violence in their city; young entrepreneurs running an after-hours club in the basement of their deceased parent’s home. Fears for their future are being spurred by all the turmoil, and intersecting with their desire to be young and carefree.

Parallels between the 1960s and present time can be seen with the mounting tension and frustration between civilians and authority figures; and youth led activism such as the Black Lives Matter movement. A new generation emerges and asserts themselves against inequalities and begins their endeavors to affect change.

Today’s technology allows youth to mobilize quickly with the use of social media. They can develop and run a campaign or movement from computers and mobile devices as seen in recent political and fundraising campaigns, and movements for social change on a global scale.

“Most of the movements of our day were led by youth,” says the Detroit native. “In many instances the parents were supporting them because in their day they knew they likely wouldn’t have had the numbers to make the impact we were making.”

The lives of youth in any generation appear to be ever layered with the complexity of seeking justice and social changes towards issues of the day, with the simplicities of good music, romance, and deciding what dreams to follow first.

We’re about to dim the lights and get ready for this psychedelic basement party in Detroit ’67.

www.EnsembleHouston.com

DETROIT ‘67

TIME: July 1967

PLACE: Basement in the home of Chelle and Lank in Detroit, Michigan

Written by Dominique Morriseau

Directed by Eileen J. Morris

CAST

Lank……………………………..Kendrick “Kay B” Brown

Chelle……………………………Cynthia Brown Garcia

Sly………………………………….Joseph “Joe P” Palmore

Bunny……………………………Lakeisha Randle

Caroline………………………….Whitney Zangarine

A Play by Dominique Morriseau

Interview with Kendrick “Kay B” Brown starring in Detroit ‘67

Interview conducted by Shandrea Crenshaw
Shandrea@HoustonTheatre.com

Edited by Theresa Pisula
Theresa@HoustonTheatre.com
March 24, 2016

Shandrea Crenshaw of HoustonTheatre.com had the opportunity to interview Kendrick Brown for his role in Detroit ’67 by the award-winning Michigan Playwright Dominique Morriseau. The inaugural play Detroit ’67 is the first of a 3-play cycle currently being developed by Ms. Morriseau about her hometown of Detroit. Detroit ’67 originated at the Public Theater and extended at Classical Theatre of Harlem with the National Black Theatre. The production was nominated for 8 Audelco Theatre Awards including Best Playwright.

Kendrick “Kay B” Brown was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in Houston Texas since 1993. Having played football in High School, he got bit by the acting bug in the eleventh grade when he was forced to take a Fine Arts class and he chose Drama. At the Ensemble Theatre, he has won the Giorgee Awards for his performances in What I Learned in Paris, One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show and FLY. His stage credits include A Soulful Christmas, The Ballad of Emmett Till, Gee’s Bend, Cinderella, Sticky Fly, Christmas with Great Aunt, Livin’ Fat and many others. He is also the artistic director and co-founder of the Black Box Theatre Group www.TheBlackBoxTheatre.org.

Shandrea: Please tell us about the part that you’re playing….

Kendrick: I play Lankston or “Lank”. I don’t want to say he’s the main character but the main story focuses around him. He and his best friend Sly try to start their own business. But his sister doesn’t approve because the money comes from our dad’s passing. So instead, we do something that we shouldn’t do. The wives break out which could destroy our plans. And some other things happen in that period of time in 1967 Detroit.

Shandrea: What is the biggest lesson learned for being in this play?

Kendrick: To understand your history. Understanding where you came from based on experiences on what people before you had to endure. You begin to really appreciate who you are as a person. That is something I learned from the script, from the character that I had to play and from the relationships that he deals with.

Shandrea: Would you consider Detroit ’67 a comedy or a drama?

Kendrick: I would consider it a mellow drama. It has its comic moments but it also has serious undertones. I think it has a nice flow when you get to know the characters, the character Sly who is a comedian and Bunny who brings a lot of laughter to the show. Of course the comedy offsets some of the serious moments.

Shandrea: Who would you dedicate this performance to?

Kendrick: Actually I dedicate all my performances to my little brother Kenneth Arnold Brown, who passed away 3 years ago. Every performance I dedicate to him because he loved Theatre. He also taught Theatre just like I do. It’s like he followed on my footsteps. So I dedicate all my performances to him.

Shandrea: Who influenced you as an artist?

Kendrick: Honestly, I’m a real observant person. Because I’m so observant, I try to imitate or try to duplicate or repeat the things that I’ve seen. So my community really influences me: like my Mom, personalities, my Dad and his personality, my little brother, my sisters and the Theatre community. The people that come into the Theatre, the ones that you encounter on a daily basis and the stories that they tell. It’s like you can’t help but be influenced by what happens to you every day. The stories of my own community help me deal with the problems I encounter in my daily life.

Shandrea: What would you like the audience to gain from watching this play?

Kendrick: I really want them to enjoy the story. Fall in love with the characters. But most importantly, understand the importance of your own finding your own self. Even when people don’t understand or believe you, no matter what could be going on. In a sense, never give up on yourself.

It’s a universal message. Do what makes you happy, no matter what happens and no matter what adversity may come.

Show Runs:

March 24 – April 17, 2016

Performance Days and Times:

Thursdays: 7:30 p.m;

Fridays: 8:00 p.m;

Saturdays: 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m;

Tickets Available Online: www.EnsembleHouston.com

Where: 3535 Main St, Houston, TX 77002

For Information Call: 713-520-0055

Dominique Morriseau says in writing Detroit ’67, “it came from a place of love.” Given the setting for the play, she wanted to represent the city with honor and capture the spirit of the time through the music. The play’s juxtaposition of the skyrocketing songs of Motown with the building intensity of activism for social change connects the audience to a very specific moment in time, as if it were really a recollection of their own.

The Ensemble Theatre's 2015-2016 Season is sponsored in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. United Airlines is the official airline sponsor for The Ensemble Theatre. Detroit ’67 is generously underwritten by Chevron.

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and to enlighten, entertain, and enrich a diverse community. Thirty-nine years later, the theatre has evolved from a small touring company to one of Houston’s finest historical cultural institutions.

The Ensemble is one of a few professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience. The oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, it holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house. Board President Emeritus Audrey Lawson led the capital campaign for The Ensemble’s $4.5 million building renovations that concluded in 1997. The Ensemble Theatre has fulfilled and surpassed the vision of its founder and continues to expand and create innovative programs to bring African American theatre to myriad audiences.

The Ensemble Theatre Gets Down with Motown in Detroit ‘67

By Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist Playwright Dominique Morisseau

HOUSTON (March, 2016) –- The Ensemble Theatre presents Detroit ’67 by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Eileen J. Morris, with Opening Night and Media reception, Thursday, March 24, 2016, 6:30 p.m.

“Although this play takes place during a very turbulent time in our Nation’s history, it reflects on what it was like to be young and full of passion in the 60’s with great music, big dreams, and the desire to make a change in the world,” says Eileen J. Morris.

It’s 1967 and almost every single Motown release has made the charts, yet the world is changing around Chelle and Lank, who run an after-hours club in the basement of their late parents’ house. Tensions mount when the siblings discover that their dreams have diverged, and their tight-knit community is threatened by the arrival of a mysterious outsider, while the city around them erupts in violence. This powerful play unfolds at an explosive moment in our history - the race riots that ravaged the city of Detroit in 1967 - set to a vibrant soundtrack of Motown hits of the day.

Eileen J. Morris, Director’s Notes

A Pulitzer Prize winning drama, FENCES is arguably August Wilson’s finest masterpiece, and considered to be his most critically acclaimed play. As in each of Wilson’s plays, the characters in FENCES are representatives of a rich history, indicative of the period (1950s Pittsburgh) and its surrounding (pre-Civil Rights America). In FENCES, one man’s story teaches us Universal lessons about life’s journey – one where destiny, death, family, loyalty and betrayal all figure prominently. Set in 1957, FENCES is the sixth of Wilson’s ten play “Pittsburgh Cycle”.

FENCES tells the story of the family of Troy Maxson, a legendary baseball player and ex-convict whose dreams and legacy died with the Negro Leagues. The Negro Leagues tell the story of American segregation through the lens of the country’s most cherished pastime: baseball. The Negro Leagues emerged during an era in which black Americans daily faced the injustice and humiliation of sanctioned racism.

However, if you peel away the layers of racism and injustice, you will uncover the story of a family that has dynamics much like you or I, one that faces the same challenges that need to be overcome in order to move forward. One that places the long-suffering matriarch Rose, at the center. Rose is a woman to pay close attention to, as she plants the seeds of stability within the Maxson family, and represents the emotional “glue” that keeps the family together.

As in many families, a strong female presence ensures that each family member is able to stand their ground. Despite overwhelming circumstances, we witness Rose providing a vehicle for her family to stay united, from her brother-in-law Gabe, and her attentiveness to his innocence; to her step-son Lyons, who she supports his weekly ten dollar loan request when needed; to her blood son Cory who when looking at him she sees a mirror of her husband Troy, from his athleticism to his internal rage; Raynell who she comes to love as if she was born from her loins and Troy-the man she loves unconditionally despite his temper, his Uncle Remus stories and his wandering eye. She saw in him what he was, and what he could be and she supported him.

While the protagonist of this play is undoubtedly Troy Maxson, I urge you to experience this production through the lens of Rose. To truly understand the depth of her character, I point to one of the most prolific lines in the play, which comes from Bono – “Some people build fences to keep people out…and some people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you.” Rose urges Troy to build a fence, in order to hold on to what was hers, and cast away that which would seek to undo her family.

What fences have we built in our own lives? What do we want to hold onto? And what do we cast out? Through FENCES, August Wilson urges you to answer the question for ourselves, our families and our nation.