Southwest Detroit’s Matrix Theatre Company
Jose Varela, Laura Perez and Matt Dooley were three of the main writers for “Vanished,” although many were involved in the collective playwriting process.
Since the early 90s, The Matrix Theatre Company has been reaching out to members of the Detroit community who may have little or no experience in traditional theatre. Founder Shaun Nethercott came to the city via Dallas, nearly 20 years ago, to work on a production about the strike of thousands of auto workers in Flint. Shawn and her husband fell in love with the freedom that Detroit offered to the arts and founded Matrix to engage the community in the empowerment of spirit that live theatre offers.
On March 12th, the group opens up a long-awaited, locally written production called Vanished. The play follows an struggling immigrant family in Detroit and the effect that unforeseen deportation raids can have on a family and a community.
Clockwise from top: Actors Tim Seneca, Megan Smith and Benito Cruz, depict a home invasion where an I.C.E. officer tries to detain an undocumented father working and living in Detroit.
