Hey Detroiters, welcome back to Culture Canvas!
Emily Kaczmarek, the writer of Detroit Public Theatre’s latest play, “Soft Target,” talked with me about the new production, which follows nine-year-old Amanda and her toys: stuffed penguin Jonah, American Girl Doll Molly, trusted Diary, and newcomer Ugly–a weighted “emotional support” bunny. While Amanda’s bedroom was once the place for fun and games, it’s now a place of nightmares for the girl as she processes the trauma from a school shooting.
The aftermath is affecting everyone in Amanda’s world, as her toys try to figure out what happened to their once happy and bubbly friend, and her mother, Jen, struggles to comfort and heal her.
Soft Target, which had its world premiere at the theater on April 30, runs until June 8. Tickets start at $49. Select performances have discounted tickets for $25.
I talked to Kaczmarek about connecting with Detroit Public Theatre for the play’s premiere, what inspired it, and what she hopes audiences take away from the production. A full story, including perspectives from director Jaki Bradley and actress Cora Steiger, is coming later this week.
Here’s part of my conversation with Kaczmarek:
BridgeDetroit: Since you’re based in Los Angeles, how did you connect with Detroit Public Theatre for the production?
Kaczmarek: I connected with Detroit because they were the theater that raised their hand to do the play. I had an industry presentation of the play, a reading, in New York in the summer of 2023 and there were a number of theaters that were interested and said very kind things about the play. But when it came time to actually program the play, it seemed like there was a bit of hesitation about the content and worries that it would be too challenging for audiences. Detroit Public Theatre had none of that fear. The three ladies who run that organization, Sarah Winkler, Courtney Burkett and Sarah Clare Corporandy, raised their hands fearlessly and said, ‘We want to do it, we want to premiere this play here.’ And that spoke volumes to me. I don’t think it’s incidental that all three of those women are moms. I think that moms tend to be the most sort of fearless and impassioned on the issue of gun safety in this country.
I also have a good friend (theater producer), Rachel Sussman, and she is from Michigan and knew the women of Detroit Public Theatre, so it all just came together in a beautiful way. And now, I really couldn’t imagine premiering it anywhere else. I’m just really grateful that they took a chance on the piece.
BridgeDetroit: What was the inspiration behind Soft Target?
Kaczmarek: I wrote the first draft of the play in 2018, which was a very bad year for mass shootings, and school shootings in particular. It was the year of the Parkland (school) shooting. And you know, those events really keep me up at night. Every time one (a school shooting) happens, I really grieve and feel quite helpless. I knew that I wanted to write about it, but I wanted to try to find an innovative way to do that and approach the topic through a side door. Because the last thing I wanted was to write a sort of preachy “school shooting play.” I really was thinking about how to center a child in an authentic way, and how to give her some agency and some power in the context of the play. I started to think, ‘Well, who would this child have power over?’ I started to think about her toys, and once I had the concept of the toys, it felt like I had a way to access the subject matter that would really disarm people and allow them to enter into the story in a surprising and almost playful way. It came pretty quickly from there. And granted, I’ve done a lot of rewriting since 2018, but the core of the play has remained steady through that time. And, yeah, that’s the genesis of it.
I was a teacher for a while in New York City, and I’ve always just been very interested in how young people metabolize events like this. I had a hunch that the theatrical image of a child actor surrounded by these adult actors playing her toys would be striking and interesting. And I give our director, Jaki Bradley, a lot of credit for bringing that vision to life. We also had so many amazing designers on this play who just really gave us their time and talent and brought it to life in a quite successful way.
BridgeDetroit: Why did you choose to have the play entirely set in Amanda’s bedroom?
Kaczmarek: I wanted to center Amanda and make her the sun in the solar system of the play. I wanted everybody to be orbiting around her. And, for a kid of that age, her bedroom is like her command center, right? It’s such an embodiment of who she is.
Our set designer, Frank Oliva, and our wonderful props person, Pegi (Marshall), created this environment that felt like an expression of this kid. I wanted it to feel like a real bedroom and I think that the environment contributes to the feeling of safety that we want to create for the audience as we all process these difficult things. But I also knew that the bedroom needed to be able to transform. As Amanda is engaging in these sort of rounds of imaginative play in order to process her trauma, I knew that there needed to be some sort of surprises in the room, we needed to be able to change the way it felt, like lights and sound, to kind of bring us into those other spaces. The set also has the addition of this little hallway, which Amanda’s mom, Jen, comes through a lot, and I like that the hallway just sort of suggests the rest of the house. It sort of reminds us that there is a house and there is a world outside of Amanda’s bedroom, but we only see this little slice of it. That’s really helpful, just to remind the audience that this is not all there is, but it is the place where we can all feel safe to be together and process this story.
I think so much about kids and what they can control. They get up and go to school and do what teachers say all day long and then come home and listen to their parents. There’s so little in their lives that they are free to choose. As a kid growing up, my bedroom was certainly the only space that really felt like mine and I think that’s a really powerful feeling for kids.
BridgeDetroit: What do you hope the audience takes away from Soft Target?
Kaczmarek: I think that the conversation around gun violence and gun safety in this country has been so co-opted by politics when really, it’s a public health crisis. The access to these machines is costing us human lives and children’s lives, and what I’m asking audiences to do in watching the play is just to sit with that cost for 90 minutes or so and leave the political debate behind. Sit with the impact and witness the impact on this one child and this one family and this one community. And perhaps as they’re leaving the theater, they think about how many children and how many families and how many communities have been permanently changed and traumatized. And to think about, ‘Is that a cost that we want to continue to pay as a society?’ I don’t think the debate is really gun rights versus no gun rights, I think the debate is unfettered access to guns versus children’s lives. I hope that people take that away and leave thinking about what this costs us.
As always, have a good week!
Cheers,
Micah
313 Scene
- Photographer Quinn Banks captured the scene at the Cartoons & Stereo Festival May 17. Created by Detroit artist Stoop Lee, the event is a celebration of the city’s growing skateboarding scene, while spotlighting artists who push the boundaries of hip-hop and alternative music, carving out their own lanes in the culture.
- Al fresco concerts are returning to the scenic patio of The Whitney mansion in Detroit. The longstanding restaurant announced the lineup for the 36th season of its Whitney Garden Party outdoor music series, featuring local acts like the Orbitsuns, the Whiskey Charmers, the Firewalkers, and more. The shows start at 5 p.m. on Thursdays, with sets at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission or $20 for a VIP reserved table. (Detroit Metro Times)
- Eminem ignited a near-deafening roar at Ford Field when he emerged to join Jelly Roll onstage May 18 as a surprise guest at Post Malone’s concert. The Detroit rapper strode from the wings to pick up the next verse of “Lose Yourself” as Jelly Roll performed his own cover of the Eminem hit. (Detroit Free Press)
- The streaming Detroit soap opera “The Dirty D” recently celebrated the launch of Season 4’s first three episodes ahead of their arrival Thursday on Tubi. The second half of the season goes into production in June, with episodes planned to arrive on the streaming service in July. The show focuses on the comings and goings around and the drama inside a Detroit nightclub. (The Detroit News)
What’s Going on in the D?
- Michigan Central, in collaboration with Movement Music Festival, is presenting the Detroit premiere Thursday of “Desire: The Carl Craig Story,” a documentary on techno innovator and DJ Carl Craig. The screening will be followed by a conversation between Carl Craig and Ann Delisi of WDET-FM. A reception starts at 5:30 p.m. at Newlab, followed by the screening at 6:30 p.m. Folks can also catch a repeat screening of the film at 5:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $25 for the Thursday showing and $15 for the Friday one.
- Pop superstar Shakira is bringing her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry) Tour to Little Caesars Arena at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are still available, beginning at $194 on Ticketmaster.
- If R&B is more of your thing, singer Jon B. will be performing at the Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel at 8 p.m. Thursday. He’s best known for his 90’s hits, “Someone to Love” and “They Don’t Know.” Tickets start at $57 on Ticketmaster.
- The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre is kicking off its summer concert series at 7:30 p.m. Friday with R&B singers October London and Tamar Braxton. Singer Ro James is the opening act. Tickets begin at $80.
- The Movement Music Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary at Hart Plaza with techno artists from Detroit and around the world. Taking place Saturday-Monday, the lineup includes Detroit DJs like Carl Craig, DJ Minx and Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, along with headliners Charlotte de Witte, Carl Cox and John Summit. A general admission one-day pass is $205, while a three-day pass is $365. For folks who can’t make it to the festival, Movement is hosting official pre-parties and afterparties. And places like Third Street Bar, Motor City Wine and The Bassment are hosting unofficial afterparties.
- For those partying during Movement weekend, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is hosting a Party Safe Resource Fair from 1-4 p.m. at its Midtown headquarters. The museum will provide Narcan and street medic training, free harm reduction supplies and music from DJ Zoe Talley. Organizations Detroit Recovery Project, the Ruth Ellis Center and the Detroit Safety Team will also be at the event providing resources.
- Pop/R&B star The Weeknd is bringing his After Hours Til Dawn Tour to Ford Field for two shows beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Guests include rapper Playboi Carti and producer Mike Dean. Tickets are still available, starting at $47.
- Radio station WJLB-FM is hosting its “Crunkfest Takeover” at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Fox Theatre. The lineup includes the king of crunk music, Lil Jon, along with rappers E-40, Uncle Luke, Yung Joc, Lil Scrappy, YoungBloodZ and B-Legit. Tickets begin at $110.
