Detroit Response

Trying to figure out why this play could be called Detroit actually wasn't that hard of a stretch. When Frank talks about the neighborhood having its heyday nearly 30 years ago, it reminded me a lot of how the city of Detroit was at its high point in the 1950s. Since then, it has steadily declined (both the neighborhood and the city) so that things aren't as good as they once were.

In the city of Detroit, much of the economy was fueled by sports teams and vehicle factories. After the first interstate was built in the 1950s and '60s, much of the better off population moved to the suburbs of Detroit. This left the city itself to slowly decline and lose much of its luster.

The same thing happens to the neighborhood that Ben, Mary, Sharon and Kenny (Roger) live in. Frank tells Ben and Mary of what the neighborhood used to look like when he moved in. Kids went outside and played and built lemonade stands, everyone knew their neighbors and were friendly, and life just seemed like an episode of Leave it to Beaver. However, much like the city of Detroit, the neighborhood decline. Neighbors were less likely to acknowledge the people living in the house next to them. The thought of asking for a cup of sugar wasn't applicable in the more modern time. And people like Sharon and Kenny showed up in the area, causing what was already a delicate balance of self-sufficiency to burst into flames. Literally.

The name Detroit is given to this play because, like the deterioration of the city of Detroit, the characters' lives and neighborhood deteriorate until there's nothing left. Ben and Mary are having to live in a hotel. Frank comes to take his house back. And we don't even know what happened to Kenny and Sharon. It's all constantly falling apart.