Theater Review – February 23, 2019

RACIAL TENSIONS BLANDLY TREATED IN WEAKLY STAGED “DETROIT ‘67”

“DETROIT ‘67”
Black Theatre Troupe/Tempe Center for the Arts, Studio Theatre, Tempe Center for the Arts
Tempe, AZ

Racial tension sparked Detroit in 1967 causing the city to become a violent place where riots resulted from intolerance and bigotry against Blacks.  It was a revolutionary beginning to injustice that remains unresolved today.

This brutal struggle forms the basis of Dominique Morisseau’s “Detroit ’67, a regional premiere presented jointly by the Black Theatre Troupe and the Tempe Center for the Arts.  Unfortunately, the play fails to establish the throbbing tension that existed … Continue Reading

Theater Review – February 17, 2019

WILSON EXPLORES BLACK PITTSBURGH COMMUNITY DYNAMICALLY IN VIBRANT ATC PRODUCTION OF “TWO TRAINS RUNNING”

“TWO TRAINS RUNNING”
Arizona Theatre Company, Center Stage, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

Playwright August Wilson brilliantly captured the Black experience decade by decade throughout the 20th century in his ten play The Pittsburgh Cycle.  His 1990 “Two Trains Running” which premiered at Yale Rep and opened on Broadway in 1992 didn’t earn Wilson any of his many awards but the play still tells a dynamic story of a once vibrant Pittsburgh Hill neighborhood that has declined.  It is set in a now rundown restaurant … Continue Reading