In the late 2000s, Detroit went from being a prosperous city offering hundreds of thousands of jobs in car factories to undergoing a catastrophic decline. As three major car manufacturers in “the automobile capital of the world” endured massive losses, promises of stable livelihoods and decent pensions for the working-class citizens of Detroit dissipated.
For the award-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau, the fall of Detroit – the city she was born and grew up in – was not just a series of shocking news headlines but a stark reality for many people she cared about. “I saw friends and family members take severances from their jobs and walk away from the factory,” she says. “They were afraid, anxious, frustrated and heartbroken.”
