August Wilson's multi-award winning Fences, the current Alabama Shakespeare Festival co-production with Theatrical Outfit and Dominion Entertainment Group, raises one of 20th Century American's most resounding voices that might haunt you well after the curtain comes down in the Octagon Theatre.
Wilson's "American Century Cycle" of plays, each one set in a different decade of the 1900s, tracks the African American experience with candor, authenticity, and understanding. -- Fences is set in Pittsburgh in the 1950s, and focuses on Troy Maxson [E. Roger Mitchell], a man who has struggled to survive all manner of obstacles from a "system" at odds with his needs -- racism, jail, poverty, and the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams -- that have shaped his behavior and beliefs, and impact everyone around him.
Troy tells stories to build his ego, and has sacrificed a lot in order to provide for his family. He claims his authority in the household that often puts him at odds with the people he loves.
The ensemble surrounding Troy include his patiently loyal and supportive wife Rose [January LaVoy]; his best friend and confidante Jim Bono [Geoffrey Williams]; his two sons: musician Lyons [Amari Cheatom] and rebellious teenage athlete Cory [Thomas Boyce], neither of whom live up to Troy's expectations; his war-wounded and psychologically damaged brother Gabriel [Enoch King]; and his innocent love-child Raynelle [Chrissette Trone on the night I saw it].
And what an ensemble cast this is! Each one is a fully realized complex individual; they live and breathe on stage with such full commitment and naturalism, that we never doubt who they are and what they have to contribute to the story. They keep us engaged every moment.
There is such complexity in their characterizations -- humorous banter matched with sexual innuendo; duty and family responsibility; unaffected bonds between men friends who aren't afraid to say when enough is enough; important life lessons from parents to their children; an ability to acknowledge the past and accept its often cruel and uncomfortable impact on the present; a recognition of human flaws together with traits of genetic inheritance; the inevitability of death and forgiveness.
The two-and-a-half-hours we spend in their company on Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay's exquisite set ask us to consider whether the "fence" that Troy builds throughout is meant to keep people "out" or to protect and contain the family "within" its bounds. And we might consider what fences we build in our own lives. -- Whatever we conclude, the journey at ASF is well worth the effort.
