Trinity’s ‘Fences’ A Searing Drama About Race, Family, Poverty

PROVIDENCE, RI — August Wilson’s “Fences” at Trinity Repertory Company through April 28 is a searing drama about a black family living in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.

The play debuted in 1987, winning the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis starred in the 2010 Broadway revival and the 2016 feature film adaptation. Davis won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Taking that into consideration, the cast of Trinity Repertory Company’s production have succeeded magnificently. A previous production was staged in 1992.

Kelvin Roston, Jr. plays Troy Maxson, a sanitation worker married to Rose (Jackie Davis). Troy is a forceful and chauvinistic man who dominates his family. He’s a heavy drinker with a troubled past and a lot of resentments. He wants to drive the garbage truck instead of merely handling other people’s trash.

Rose is a loyal and loving wife. She is good-hearted but becomes increasingly flustered by Troy’s need to interfere in their son Cory’s life.

“The world is changing and you can’t see it,” Rose tells Troy.

Cory, played beautifully by Nicholas Byers, is in high school and works in a supermarket. He wants to be a football player. Troy tells his son not to waste his time in sports because it won’t lead anywhere.

Troy had dreams of being a baseball player himself and played in the Negro Leagues. He explains how the system discriminates against blacks and brushes aside the achievements of men like Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron.

The growing tension between Troy and Cory escalates and threatens to explode into violence. It’s an interesting psychological dynamic between the two men as Troy’s personal demons slowly rise to the surface.

Director Christopher Windom (“Fairview”) generates outstanding work from the ensemble.

Roston creates a compelling portrait of a highly flawed man. Troy loves Rose very much but places his own emotional needs ahead of hers. 

Davis (“The Inheritance”) has never been better as a woman struggling to keep her family from falling apart. Rose is anguished after learning of her husband’s infidelity. Davis sells the sense of betrayal Rose is experiencing and her determination to keep going on with her life. Davis makes it clear that Rose is no victim.

Martinez Napoleon is mesmerizing as Troy’s compassionate brother Gabriel, who has been suffering the after effects of a brain injury obtained during wartime. 

Dereks Thomas (“Becky Nurse of Salem”) and Rodney Witherspoon II (“The Inheritance”) provide solid supporting turns as Jim Bono, Troy’s longtime friend, and gregarious aspiring musician Lyons, Troy’s other son. 

“Fences” has much to say about the state of the American family, poverty, racial discrimination, and the metaphorical ‘fences’ we put up in our daily lives.

Bono observes how fences can keep people out but they can also keep people in.  Troy Maxon has been building fences his entire life and his family has paid dearly. 

Racism is still with us, along with a myriad of other problems. If we took the time to tear down the barriers so that we can really see each other, imagine how much good could be accomplished.

August Wilson’s Fences runs through April 28 in the Dowling Theater. Tickets are available for purchase in person at the Ticket Office on 201 Washington St., online at trinityrep.com/fences, or by calling (401) 351-4242.