Skeleton Crew

I went to see the play Skeleton Crew last night at the Northlight Theatre and largely enjoyed it. The play focuses on factory workers in Detroit who are facing unemployment because their factory is slated to close at the end of the year. The play was written by Detroiter Dominique Morrisseau and I commend her for writing about black factory workers in the Motor City. If you're from Detroit, as I am, you know that the auto industry was, for many years, the main economic thread for the city. Most people were connected somehow with the auto industry either directly or indirectly and, if they didn't, they certainly knew someone who did. My own father was an auto worker, so the play really hit home with me. A central theme in the play dealt with people whose lives are tied to their jobs. So many of us depend on our jobs for a lot and fear of losing that job can cause all kinds of stress. But when a corporate decision is made to eliminate jobs and/or close a workplace, there's not much the workers can do about it. The corporate overlords will do what they want and we'll just have to live with the consequences.