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Lisa D’Amour’s Pulitzer finalist play Detroit isn’t actually set in Detroit, but its vision of a crumbling suburbia does seem comparable to a city where homes are sold for close to the cost of a few six-packs. Another drubbing of the American Dream would seem unnecessary after everyone from John Cheever to Weeds has had their shot, but Detroit’s not looking to prove that the suburbs suck. It takes that as a given: The suburbs are dead, so now what? One couple, Mary and Ben, invites their new, recovering junkie neighbors, Sharon and Kenny, over for a cookout, and anxiety and booze make things as precarious as their membership in the middle class. Ben’s just lost his job as a bank loan officer, Sharon and Kenny’s house lacks furniture, and like the suburban experience, the whole show teeters on the verge of hilarious collapse.
The play runs Sept. 9 to Oct. 6 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D St. NW. $25–$67.50. (202) 393-3939. woollymammoth.net.