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| Left to right: Aldo Billingslea, Margo Hall. Photo courtesy California Shakespeare Theater. |
August Wilson’s work was instrumental in the promotion of
African-American theatre, and his Pulitzer-winning Fences, which depicts a family reacting to their patriarch’s slow
disintegration, could be considered Wilson’s masterpiece. Director Raelle
Myrick-Hodges’ rendition of this classic tale of pain, anger, and loss,
currently playing at California Shakespeare Theater does justice to Wilson’s
language and characters. Under her direction, the play’s themes are explored
partially using a framework of women’s issues discovered within the text.
Central to the story of Fences
is Troy Maxson, a former baseball player and current garbage man who stands in
the pantheon of American theatre’s deepest, most complex characters. Aldo
Billingslea, a cornerstone of the Bay Area acting community, interprets Troy as
a character desperate to believe that he is the hero of his own story. Troy is
willing to do anything, from telling fanciful tales about wrestling with Death
to exaggerating his children’s failings, to reinforce his belief that he is the
sole good person in a world full of evildoers. As he falls over the course of
the play and fewer people believe in or respect him, he works harder than ever
to convince himself of his own lies. Billingslea’s Troy is not necessarily
sympathetic, but he is, in his own way, understandable.
Margo Hall plays Rose, Troy’s wife; in the program, director
Myrick-Hodges notes that she had been confused and angered for decades at what
seemed like Rose’s eternal tolerance of her undeserving husband. Under
Myrick-Hodges’ direction, Rose’s willingness to forgive becomes a major part of
her character arc, while she maintains a high status throughout the play,
refusing to defer to Troy. Her actions don’t indicate subservience or undue
loyalty as much as an unshakable moral compass and a desire to do what’s right.
Myrick-Hodges integrates the theme of forgiveness throughout the play, interspersing interviews with local women about the
subject during scene changes.
Troy’s two children process living with him differently from
each other: Thirty-four-year-old Lyons (Lance Gardner) has mostly cut ties and
only drifts in to borrow or repay money, while teenage Cory (J. Alphonse
Nicholson) has to balance his dreams of college football with living under his
disillusioned father’s rule. Gardner’s Lyon is slick and friendly, but still
shows a hidden honesty and vulnerability – indeed, his façade isn’t
something he cares about maintaining among his family but rather something he picked
up as a musician. Nicholson’s Cory defers to his father throughout much of the
play, but he also pierces Troy’s lies most deeply, and he switches from
innocence into outrage seamlessly.
The rest of the cast is equally stellar. Guiesseppe Jones
plays Troy’s best friend Bono; whereas Troy slowly descends into paranoia over
the course of the play, Bono behaves roughly the same way he did at the
beginning, serving as an emotional baseline that contrasts with Troy’s descent.
Troy’s brother Gabriel (Donald E. Lacy, Jr.), suffering from brain damage, acts
as both the subtle supernatural element present in many Wilson plays and as
proof that there is some good within Troy – even at his worst, Troy always
treats him with kindness. Most commendable is Lacy’s precise body language,
with intense gazes and trumpet-playing hand gestures showing his eagerness to
blast open the gates of Heaven.
The technical side of the production is subtle yet clever. One
of the challenges in producing Fences
at Cal Shakes’ outdoor venue is confining a stage graced with a wide view of
California’s rolling hills into the Maxson’s tiny property in the Pittsburgh
suburbs. Scenic designer Michael Locher accomplishes this by barricading a
tiny, screened-in cube of a house between the titular fence and a series of
dusty patio furniture. With the exits covered, and much of the action taking
place center stage, the set conveys the barrier Troy has chosen to create
between his family and the outside world. Costumes (Alina Bokovikova) are
time-period appropriate, but the children’s clothing is fresher and more modern
than those of their parents, hinting at both economic circumstances and Cory’s
yet-uncovered potential.
Fences at
California Shakespeare Theater is a breathtaking rendition of one of August
Wilson’s greatest works. Director Raelle Myrick-Hodges reinterprets major
themes in the play, choosing to illustrate Rose’s difficult decisions, bringing
her further into the spotlight and giving the production a fresh perspective.
Note: Actor Aldo
Billingslea was my professor at Santa Clara University.
