Event

The Western Canadian Premiere of DETROIT by Lisa D'Amour

With director Lois Anderson at the helm, Mitch and Murray Productions returns with another dynamite play, Lisa D'Amour's Detroit, running November 4th to 19th at Studio 16.

The Story: In Detroit, suburbanites Ben (Joel Wirkkunen) and Mary (Jennifer Copping) fire up the backyard grill to welcome the new neighbours, recovering addicts Sharon (Luisa Jojic) and Kenny (Aaron Craven), who have moved into the long-empty house next door. The fledgling friendship soon veers out of control, shattering the fragile hold that newly unemployed Ben and burgeoning alcoholic Mary have on their way of life with unexpected comic consequences.

This timely show is being staged while Vancouver's housing crisis is a hot topic and the city continues to struggle with the plight of the homeless and addicted. Detroit tackles these issues with humour and deep humanity. This play was a 2011 Pulitzer prize finalist and is a timely addition to the evolving presence of this company in the city's theatre ecology.

With 12 Jessie nominations to its name, Mitch and Murray Productions is a theatre company that lives on the edge, with a focus on contemporary, character-driven storytelling that rocks the status quo and provokes laughter, cringing and lively debate. Recent works include the Vancouver premieres of Pulitzer Prize-nominated Rapture Blister Burn and Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo, Lungs by Duncan MacMillan and Race and Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet - all contemporary urban stories, with morally complex and unpredictable characters. Making their home in the cozy confines of the intimate Studio 16, Mitch and Murray Productions has been tagged by a loyal audience base as HBO for the stage.