K.J. Powell, Corey Jones, Tamarra Graham and Matt Orduna (Photo byJason Niedle/TETHOS)
Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
Laguna Playhouse
Through May 18, 2025
RECOMMENDED
Fences is one of two Pulitzer Prize-winning works in August Wilson’s Century Cycle, a series of 10 plays written between 1982 and 2005 intended as a microcosm of the Black experience in Pittsburgh across the 20th century. Cinephiles may recognize the title from the 2016 film directed by Denzel Washington, a cinematic adaptation starring himself and Viola Davis in the central roles of Troy and Rose Maxson.
Directed by Yvette Freeman-Hartley at the Laguna Playhouse, Fences — like so much of Wilson’s work — begins as a slow burning, experiential exploration of a single moment in time. Set in Pittsburgh in 1957, the story revolves around Troy Maxson (Corey Jones), an aging garbage man hung up on his glory days in the Negro baseball leagues. His approach to parenting his sons Lyons (Sean Samuels) and Cory (K.J. Powell) leaves much to be desired, as does his touchy, possessive affection for his wife Rose (Tamarra Graham).
In the opening scene, Troy’s blustering personality is swiftly established in a womanizing dialogue with his coworker Jim Bono (Boise Holmes), while Rose is depicted as his level-headed and even-tempered foil. His son Lyons is a working musician that Troy treats as a freeloader and refuses to take seriously. The younger Cory is about to graduate high school and hopes to be scouted for football in college, but Troy is adamant that his son not follow in his footsteps and replicate his own disappointing sports career. Troy’s brother Gabriel (Matt Orduna) is a disabled veteran with a severe brain injury; once he was cared for by the family, but now he is trying in earnest to live independently outside of hospice. As events unfold and his choices catch up to him, Troy’s relationships with his family shift dramatically and begin to fall apart.
Edward Haynes’ scenic design is a core feature of this production. It features the Maxsons’ two story house with a back porch, windows into the kitchen, and a wooden fence on either side of the property that expands over the course of the show. The backyard shrubbery looks realistic, and the base of the large tree is padded with dirt so as to appear as if it were actually growing out of the stage. (On opening night, Jones knocked a baseball into the tree branches so well that a number of audience members cheered during intermission when the stagehands were finally able to get it down.)
At several points Troy and Cory impressively saw real wood planks to “build” the fence. In the far corners of the stage, abandoned objects like a piano keyboard — perhaps a 1987 antecedent nod to Wilson’s 1990 Century Cycle piece The Piano Lesson? — populate the brush that is eventually hidden by the fence’s expansion. Haynes’s design makes thoughtful use of interior and exterior layers to balance immersion with theatricality; the most striking example comes during the final sequence when the scene is blacked out save for the Maxsons and their back porch, creating the remarkable illusion of a void. The only complaint one might have is the number of awkwardly long pauses employed to reset props; that at times broke the sense of immersion.
As Troy, Jones does an excellent job both in reflecting the humanity of a flawed character and capturing the nuanced chemistry in his relationships to Rose and Cory. His attitude toward his (unseen) mistress Alberta and his depersonalization of his loved ones — whom he sees solely as extensions of himself — illustrate his sense of entitlement. Graham as Rose effortlessly embodies the bravery and fortitude of a wife and mother faced with impossible circumstances. Powell as Cory and Holmes as Bono skillfully adjust their acting choices to acknowledge the evolution of their characters over time. The parallels in generational trauma — between Cory’s dynamic with Troy and Troy’s relationship with his own father — are particularly poignant. Though a disabled character like Gabriel is difficult to cast authentically, Orduna successfully paints him as disoriented but well-meaning, easy to sympathize with, and deserving of kindness. Samuels’s performance as Lyons was unfortunately dissatisfying in an otherwise solid cast.
Overall, this rendering of Fences is well-executed. It asks: “If we understand that people are products of their circumstances, are they still worth forgiving?”
Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach. Wed.-Sat., 7:30 pm, Thurs. and Sat., 2 pm, Sun. 1 pm and 5:30 pm; thru May 18. www.lagunaplayhouse.com Running time; two hours and 30 minutes with a 15 minute intermission.
