Detroit

Eternity Playhouse until 16 Aug

"Welcome to Detroit with all its social, financial and emotional complexities," reads the director's note. It's a warm type of welcome that the audience receives, too. The characters on stage are awkward; two young misfits invited to their nuclear family-esque neighbours', a husband and wife. Small talk resonates poignantly, an impotent tool that cannot break down the privacy barriers we all erect. And then they engage emotionally and their relationship is forged. They can come to each other in times of need, times of personal struggle, and can unburden their secrets, minor or major, on each other.

The storyline is captivating in its sincerity but sometimes difficult to engage with for a modern Australian audience that doesn't quite have such a visible economic disparity to negotiate. The fires that fuel the show's sincerity are the acting and, surprisingly, the lighting design. Claire Lovering (Sharon) and Ed Wightman (Ben) stood out. Their chemistry, between each other, and between their counterparts, James O'Connell (Kenny) and Lisa Chappell (Mary), brought emotional depth into a dark place — they set the stage alight. As did Benjamin Brockman's lighting design, which brought a tactile sensation to a piece rooted in realism. Day and night, a fire and the transformation of a house into a burnt-out skeleton were evoked with staggering simplicity and emotional affect.

As a linear narrative full of drama and sincerity, twists and turns, Detroit is a keen negotiation of the tension between generations, emotionally disaffected neighbourhoods and economic crisis. It rings a little trying in 2015 Australia but earns its place as an engaging watch.