Photograph by Justin Cox
Skeleton Crew at Yellow Tree Theatre
The great Stella Adler once said that “the theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.” I’ve held onto the quote ever since I heard it when I was a young actor in high school. Great theatre makes us reflect on what we just saw and how it runs parallel to our current society and lived experiences. That is what we get with Yellow Tree Theatre’s production of Skeleton Crew. This show also is in partnership with New Dawn Theatre, which aims to shed light on under-represented communities through innovative productions.
Skeleton Crew takes place at the start of the Great Recession in 2007 and how the potential closing of the last auto stamping plant in Detroit will directly affect the lives of four workers. Each one has their own struggles and problems that they face. Shanita is alone and pregnant, Dez wants to own his own garage, Faye's life has completely fallen apart, and Reggie cannot decide between what is right and what is expected from his job.
This was my first time at Yellow Tree Theatre and it’s a fairly quaint space. It’s an intimate theatre in Osseo, and an appropriate stage to tell this story for maximum impact. The performances given are stronger and more effective when we can almost reach out and touch the stage. With themes of financial struggles, racial inequality, job security and large corporations not looking out for their employees, this show is extremely relatable and relevant. While it technically takes place in 2007, it feels like it could be set in 2020. To be honest, at one point I thought it did.
This group of four performers are an empathetic and respectful group as they honor the lives of those they play. These characters themselves are fully fleshed out, real and three-dimensional beings. Even though it takes place more than a decade ago, they have problems that many of us are still facing. Nadége Matteis makes her Twin Cities debut as Shanita, going through an array of emotions but never letting them get over the top to the point of caricature. They are all rooted in a reason. Darius Dotch plays the supervisor Reggie, who straddles the line of wanting to be a friend but still has responsibilities of a boss. Mikell Sapp brings a unique energy to the stage. While he helps keep the mood light with a lot of humor, he shows the way someone can use humor to hide what’s really going on.
Jamecia Bennett plays Faye and is absolutely brilliant. Bennett gives an emotionally vulnerable performance that should go down as one of the best this year (yes, I know it’s only February). Faye is an extremely complex character. There is a lot going on with her that we see unravel: Her deceased love was Reggie’s mother, she is a breast cancer survivor, she is currently living in the break room unbeknownst to her coworkers, and she is the union leader for the factory. Faye also finds out about the closing before her friends and has to keep it a secret. Bennett navigates this character extraordinarily well.
A small detail about Faye that playwright Dominique Morisseau has given her is that she is a lesbian. She is a queer woman of color, but her sexuality is just a detail. It doesn’t take up huge scenes, large monologues, or push the plot along. It doesn’t define her entire character, and as a queer person myself, I love that.
The space is set up in a shabby break room and stays there for the entire show. This does hinder aspects of the plot because the only scenes we see are in there–we don’t even see a brief scene outside. However, Nicole DelPizzo’s set design and Josie Everett’s prop design give this space a sense of familiarity. If you’ve ever worked a labor-type job you’ve seen this room, with a small fridge under a table, a coffee pot, and papers covering a cork board and jammed inside lockers.
One of my biggest pet peeves in shows is when there are empty cups that are supposed to be full, or when actors use fake food. I understand that financial costs can hinder this, but I so appreciated that Yellow Tree had their actors actually eating and drinking. At one point I even saw steam rising from the coffee they drank. It’s a small detail, however it really helps the audience stay in the moment of the show and not focus on props.
While this show features the potential losing of four people’s jobs, it tells a much larger story on race as well. According to a New York Times article from 2008 generously provided in the program for the show: “African-Americans earn much higher wages in the auto industry than in other parts of the economy,” but at what cost if these jobs are always some of the first to be cut? What Skeleton Crew doesn't let us forget is how the Great Recession further divided the racial inequality that we still have today.
Skeleton Crew runs at Yellow Tree Theatre in collaboration with New Dawn Theatre now through March 1. Those interested in diving deeper into this script can attend a presentation and discussion at Ramsey County Library in Roseville on Monday, February 10 at 7 p.m. After a reading of two scenes, a discussion of the themes will take place and how they tie to current events, personal values, and help stimulate critical thinking. yellowtreetheatre.com
