Thesis statement:
‘Fences’ is a play full of allegorical allusions and deals with the problems faced by African Americans in society with the production seen at the Duchess Theatre in London particularly enticing and compelling especially with the great Larry Henry in the title role.
Overview:
- The full name of the play is ‘Fences’
- The theatre company presenting the production is the London Theatre Company
- The physical theatre is the Duchess Theatre in London
- I saw the show on the 21st August 2013 at 8pm
- The ticket cost GBP 20 and was made online.
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- The exact seat and row number was E3. This was quite a central location in the theatre and had excellent viewing.
- I attended the play’s performance on my own.
Plot
Fences can be described as one of the most important plays in American history and is essentially about the relations between the races. The main character is called Troy and the play explores how it was like to live in the state of Pennsylvania where society was still rigidly segregated in the 1960’s.
The main character is modelled on the black baseball player Ray Dandridge who also suffered considerably due to the fact that he was black.
The issue of inequality comes to the fore several times but mostly due to the fact that Troy did not have much of an income even though he worked hard at his day job. This was due to the low pay given to African Americans when compared to whites and this surely put Troy very much on the back burner with regards to his savings which were meagre to say the least.
The final act monologue is a very powerful one where we can observe Troy barricading himself in his own property through the building of an extensive fence around it. Troy is very sad and depressed and here he is continually lamenting his situation as life slowly turns into death. The sense of hopelessness permeated by this section is indeed very powerful.
Troy’s monologue is basically a portrayal of the injustices of segregation and the fact that these were separate but certainly not equal at all. Troy’s discourse with his son is also an important part of the play – he is exhorting him to work constantly to avoid ending up in the same rut as he himself did. This closing is probably the most moving and powerful part of the play with a rarefied beauty also present.
Theme
The theme which comes to the fore is the injustice of segregation and how it was directly experienced by African Americans in the 1950’s. Troy is a character who has huge importance in the play and he is the personification of Jim Crow so to speak.
Characters
The play revolves around Troy as the main character who is built upon the black baseball player, Ray Dandridge. This dandridge also held conversations with his son exhorting him to study and get a good job so as not to end up like him. The main character Troy is perhaps the kernel of the play and everything seems to revolve around him. Lenny Henry’s performance can be described as being the only one for this role and he has made the character his own as attested by several prominent drama critics. Other characters which are obviously important in the play are Troy’s long suffering wife and his son who can be said to provide an element of continuity.
Literary quality or diction
The play is very conventional in its literary qualities with the text used in a very informal manner. The dialogue between characters is very positive and there are no real changes or modifications in the script.
Music and musicality
There were very few musical parts in the play apart some basic sound effects which did not come across as particularly memorable. Sounds and songs of the 1950’s are interspersed throughout and this adds authenticity to the play and the whole production.
Spectacle
Although the staging used by August Wilson is very minimalist, there are also extensive lighting techniques which make the most out of the monologues with some clever use of shading. The props are usually simple such as items you would find in a normal home.
The script is also quite conventional in its construction although one can also observe some particular statements which come from African Americans. The main points are the constant reference to the injustice suffered by African Americans and the way in which these are left out in the cold consistently.
There is not much spectacle in the play since it is chiefly a monologue but one can always observe the suffering endured by blacks at close quarters through Troy’s impassioned words.
Convention
The play is quite conventional in the sense that it focuses on one topic and stays there. This is the betterment of African Americans and the hope that they will finally get out of the rut in which they have been since the Civil War ended. This is the leitmotif of the play and it is very well portrayed by August Wilson.
There is also quite alot of observation on the living conditions for African Americans which were themselves very much inferior to those of whites. Another aspect of convention in the play is the way in which Troy’s inevitable affair is portrayed as well as the consistent arguments between father and son with the intrusion of the mother who more often than not took the side of the son. This rapid increase in tension eventually results in a marriage breakdown and with the added racial influx, the situation becomes extremely dire.
The situation on the job for blacks is also discussed at length and resistance to racism is another undercurrent which is consistently explored and is in itself very powerful indeed. Troy is the ‘piece de resistance’ for all blacks and he stands up for his coleagues at the workplace when faced with brutalized racism.
Acting and directing:
This particular production of ‘Fences’ was very intense and demonstrated Larry Henry’s skills as an actor full of panache and quality. Perhaps the lesser characters were slightly less involving but on the whole, Henry carried all before him with his characterisation of Troy. He brought panache and nobility to the role which is quite difficult to bring off and was also very much in keeping with the script. The staging and lighting was very minimalist and the re-creation of a typical 1950’s American bedsit was there for the taking. Essentially the whole dramatic character of the play is its racial undertone which Henry portrays very well indeed.
Outstanding moment:
There are several important and outstanding moments in the play but the best one perhaps is the manner in which Troy’s death brings home the oustanding qualities of this person even under such duress. The racial undertones of the play are fully shown here and one is almost squirming in discomfort when we observe the manner in which blacks were treated in the 1950’s Deep South. Perhaps the most brilliant part of the play is the way Troy confronts his demons when he is faced with the alarming terror of compromise with death.
The event as theatre
‘Fences’ is surely a great play when observed from several different aspects. It is contemporary theatre in the sense that it attempts to be as natural as possible to proceedings and delves into the psychological aspect of normal life and the struggle this can become. The interaction between characters almost recalls Chekov and the great American drama schools where personal contact and opprobium is actually part and parcel of all that goes on.
Conclusion:
My viewing of the play only reinforced the view that this is one of the most important post war plays in the American scenario. Lenny Henry’s magnificent performance only enhanced that opinion and it is no wonder that the play won the Pulitzer Prize. It is a great portrayal of the trials and tribulations of the African American and his heroic stance in the face of adversity.
Works Cited:
Literature and the Writing Process, Backpack Edition by Elizabeth McMahan, Susan Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman (ISBN: 10: 0-205-73072-8 or 13: 978-0-205-73072-8)
Vecsey G (1987) Sports of The Times; Ray Dandridge and ‘Fences’; The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/10/sports/sports-of-the-times-ray-dandridge-the-hall-of-fame-and-fences.html
