Milwaukee Rep presents "Fences"

A Pulitzer Prize winning play takes the stage

Playwright August Wilson won two Pulitzer Prizes and has written at least 10 plays examining the African American experience. In his twentieth century plays, Wilson sets one story in each decade, starting in 1904 and ending in 1997. Fences, Wilson's second Pulitzer Prize winner and the play now on stage at the Rep, is set in 1957. 

Before going into the play, I read someone liken it to Death of a Salesman, but for African Americans. It's true there are many similarities. Fences is largely a father/son story — a father who missed out on his dreams and a son who believes he can still fulfill his own. The overarching question that stood out to me is one of parenting: If a person is doing what they believe is best for their child — even if that means denying their child's dreams — should we call them a bad parent? Are the parent's actions somehow abusive, or is it just a tragic misunderstanding rooted in love? 

It's a very heavy question and one that had me mulling it over all the way home. Throughout Fences, you're never sure if you're supposed to root for or loathe Troy, the main character and father figure. Life hasn't always been kind to him — he's certainly rough around the edges, and he's shaped greatly by his experience as an African American man in the early half of the century. Has life worn him down to the point of being irredeemable in the eyes of his family and the audience? Or is Troy simply flawed in his own way, as we all are? 

I don't think I'd be mulling over such big questions if the actors in this Milwaukee Rep production didn't bring such gusto to Wilson's words. David Alan Anderson, who plays Troy, gives a powerhouse performance. He'll have you laughing out loud, shooting daggers at him, and gripping your seat in fearful anticipation of what he might do next. It's awesome to see such a complex character brought to life.

Then there's Troy's spirited and steadfast wife, Rose, played by the exuberant Kim Staunton. In the first act, I could hardly look away from this beaming woman, her energy and fire flooding the theater (that's all praise for Staunton's glowing performance). When Rose's world comes crashing down in Act Two, she brought me to tears. Playing off Anderson's Troy, these two make you feel a whole spectrum of emotion, just as their on-stage marriage spans that same spectrum. Fences is just as much about a marriage as it is about a father and son, and the way things unfold is incredibly affecting. 

How often does a Pulitzer Prize winning play grace a Milwaukee stage? How often does theater rattle you to your core? How often does a story really make you pause and question if this other man's life is a world apart or, in some small way, just like everyone's? 

Fences is playing now through May 22nd at the Milwaukee Rep. Find more info and tickets at milwaukeerep.com.