Baldwin Wallace University theater students seek to amplify Black voices with their history-making production of “Skeleton Crew,” the first all-Black production at BW. 

Premiering in the Loomis Acting Studio on Feb. 12, “Skeleton Crew” follows four Detroit stamping plant workers—Faye, Dez, Shanita, and Reggie—during the 2008 financial crisis. These core four must grapple with the impending closing of the plant and what that means for their futures. 

Student director Maya Norman, a senior acting and directing major, said she has been drawn to “Skeleton Crew” since her collaborative studies class, where she served as the director for the show.  

Additionally, Norman’s father is from Detroit, adding familial ties to the city. Her grandmother worked at a stamping plant for about 33 years, and multiple family members currently work for car companies in Detroit. 

“I have a personal connection to that because that is the woman, and also the people in my family, who I saw be hard workers and be a great example to me of what hard work looks like, and I was really inspired by that,” Norman said.  

BW’s Conservatory of Performing Arts has previously staged another production in the “Detroit Project” cycle by playwright Dominique Morisseau, “Detroit ‘67,” which was the first time the program had ever performed a play by a Black female playwright. While that production had a majority Black cast, “Skeleton Crew” will be the first BW production with an all-Black cast. 

First-year BFA acting student Moth Teets, who plays Faye, is very excited to be a part of this “historical moment” for BW, especially during Black History Month. Teets said that this show will “set the tone” for BW staging more shows centered around minority stories. 

“I think it’s really important for there to be shows like that because a lot of Black people feel like they have to code switch, and especially when we’re in a place like Berea, which is more white populated,” Teets said. “That’s not Berea’s fault … or BW’s fault, but it brings a different culture when you’re able to let loose and be free around the people that you feel comfortable with.” 

Norman said that this is a story about community and how people make their way, so she and the team are building a community in the space and working together to bring this story to others. 

“It’s rare that you get an opportunity where almost every single person in the room looks like you, and you’re working together to tell a story about people who look like you,” Norman said. “This is a story about community and what happens when people are able to be as one together, and how they make a way out of a way, even when there is sacrifice.” 

Teets said that they appreciate Norman’s collaborative rehearsal process because she lets the actors take the lead on scenes and then goes back to adjust the things that did not work. The entire team is able to play around with the blocking to create a product that feels natural and works in the space of the Loomis Acting Studio. 

“It takes place in a break room, and it makes it that much more fun and easy to kind of manipulate the space to be what we need, but also not having to manipulate it too much is really great,” Norman said. “In doing this show, I found ways to incorporate what we already have to make it work.” 

“Skeleton Crew” focuses on the community built in this breakroom between characters, and the 2008 recession serves as the story’s backdrop. The four main characters, some having closer relationships with each other than others, are all experiencing this economic crisis together and dealing with the uncertainty of what lies ahead. 

“They are at risk of having to be in the loop again, having to figure out what’s the next move when they’ve been so content and so stable where they have been their entire lives,” Hodges said. “Now, they’re possibly going to be on this adventure … so you have all these opposites, all these different stories clashing all at once.”  

As audiences see this production, Teets hopes they see their own relationships with family and friends in the relationships between the main characters. They also want audiences to “keep amplifying Black voices” and spread their stories. 

Norman said this production is an opportunity for BW’s Conservatory to “create an open forum” of discussion for sharing stories that highlight lived experiences of diverse groups of people.  

Norman believes that it is important to continue having these conversations, especially at a university that prides itself on diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

“As a young Black woman in the theater department, you see people who look like you, but there are rarely as many opportunities for that to be represented,” Norman said. “I wanted to assure that in my last year of time here, that I would be able to be a part of something that could be that for the next me.” 

“Skeleton Crew” runs Feb. 12-15 in the Loomis Acting Studio. Tickets are free for the public and can be reserved here.