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Fences
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
International City Theatre
Through Sept. 13
PICK OF THE WEEK:
No playwright was a more celebrated, astute chronicler of the African-American experience than August Wilson. His ability to transmute the stories of plain and simple people into grand, poetic drama is on full display in this 30th anniversary revival of Fences, his first Pulitzer Prize-winning play, and the sixth entry in the epic ten-play “Century Cycle.”
Set in Pittsburgh in 1957, it’s a bittersweet tale covering eight years in the life of a black family struggling to contend with the demons of the past, and an ever uncertain future.
Patriarch Troy Maxson (Michael A. Shepperd) was a former Negro League Baseball star whose promising career was throttled by racism and his own bad choices. Employed as a garbage collector, his life is an exercise in lacerating futility. Bitterness and anger are his constant companions, and he freely and frequently berates his two sons, Lyons (Theo Perkins) and Cory (Jermelle Simon), with neither of whom he ever shares a single loving moment.
Troy’s softer, humorous side is pooled among his devoted wife Rose (Karole Foreman), his brain-damaged brother Gabriel (Matt Orduna), and drinking buddy/co-worker Bono (Christopher Carrington). The tension that’s always simmering in this home comes to a head when some startling secrets gradually emerge, that forever change the family. It’s easy to view this as a domestic melodrama, but the dialogue, and more importantly the arresting characters and rich emotional content make it not only one of Wilson’s best plays but a fine piece of storytelling.
This is a superb production. All performances are of the highest caliber, under Gregg T. Daniel’s direction. Don Llewelyn adds a neatly designed, rustic two-story house.
International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 East Ocean Blvd, Long Beach; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Sept. 13. (562) 436-4610, www.internationalCityTheatre.org
