Brooke Berman, a native Detroit playwright has written a play about fictional women characters in the building; one black and one white, living at 1300. The culture and friendliness of the building is the real thing- the fictional characters show this in the Play. Brooke and Plowshares Theatre Founder Gary Anderson (were the Play is showing in March) are interested in the 'What-ifs" of DETROIT- the possibility; Brooke is showing this through '1300 Lafayette East'. The relationship between a white housewife and a black singer are symbols for a City divided-can they work together? A symbol like in real life- Can cooperation bring money into the hurting City? A viable Black middle-class is a main point in Brooke's thoughts on helping Detroit.
"Art is Spiritual Food" says Brooke.
Our interview, in a comfortable Detroit-Area Apartment, was refreshing and we learned a lot about the history of Brooke's thoughts and view on DETROIT:
Q: How has Detroit influenced your writing?
Not too much recently but I wanted to write this story and I talked to my mom 10 years ago about it. I also talked to her friends and researched it- the culture of the city, early Motown, and Police brutality. Plowshares' Gary Anderson put her onto the Police Brutality angle.
Q: When did you start writing the play?
I started this project in 2004. I was interested in the subject and asked my mom who lived there. I eventually talked to her Friends, reading books on Detroit and even talking to Associate Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan, Matthew Countryman. He spoke of the "White Flight", or term to demarcate the leaving of Caucasians from an area of growing African-American influence.
Q: What is the underlying currents of '1300 Lafayette East?
The play deals with friendship and the 'Rules' of the friendship, as they are different races in 1960's American Culture. The 'crashing-in' of the politics is the fuel for the Play. The building was 'insulated' and a 'lovely little community' as told to her by her research. In the building everyone is equal. Brooke creates the insularity of the building to focus on the friendship but the outside politics comes crashing in. Detroit had a viable Middle-class for along time. There are race issues and also poverty issues. Renna Walker (character in the Play) loosely based on Tammi Terrell- she was an amazing Black woman in 1967 America as she was a pre-medical student that dropped out of Penn State University to sing for James Brown. A real Black middle-class experience. The Black middle class are as susceptible to racism too- they walk around with Black skin. (She recalled Professor Skip Gates, a friend to President Obama, and well-known Harvard University Documentary-Maker was arrested by the Police outside his own house; they assumed he was breaking in because he was Black), The Play is about situations like this-what do you do with it? That is the question. A friendship in this time period they must be aware of the said tension. This is apart of the story.
Q: Was there alot of research for this Play?
With most plays there is research but '1300 Lafayette East' is the first play she wrote dealing with the past. With this "...history piece, I wanted to get the time right". For movies she needed to do a lot of research. Her movie adaptation of a book dealing with In Vitro Fertilization she had to do a lot of research.
Q: How do you see the Culture of the Arts in Detroit in 2014?
The Daughter of a Detroit Musician, Brooke grew up in the culture of the Arts of Detroit. Brooke was gone for 30 years, living out of State. Brook has learned a lot from Gary Anderson's Detroit-connected theater group, as he is a 'Real Detroiter'. He was 'called' to create art in Detroit and loves it. There is a feeling of selling the renewal of the arts in Detroit to young professionals and a burgeoning cultural life.
Q: Why did you want to write about DETROIT in 1967 and the tension?
"I grew up hearing stories of the building and it sounded like a magical place". She was at a play reading with Diana Ross's daughter, Rhonda. She mentioned their Mothers lived in the same apartment building in the 1960's. Rhonda said that was funny. When Brooke thought about it, she thought, "Well yes, that is funny". It took her 10 years to get the play together because She didn't know what She wanted "this play to be" . The play is the friendship.
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