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Fences
1987
By August Wilson
August Wilson’s Biography
Vital Statistics
Born in 1945, Pittsburgh, PA
Died in 2005, Seattle, WA
Education
Dropped out high school in ninth grade
Teacher accused him of plagiarism
Educated himself at the library
August Wilson
Local connection
Moved to St. Paul, MN in 1977
Director of Black Horizons (later Penumbra)
Scriptwriter for Science Museum of Minnesota
Professional life
Premier playwright of black experience in modern times
Twelve plays (two Pulitzer Prize winners) including:
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Broadway) 1984
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Broadway) 1988
The Piano Lesson (Pulitzer Prize, Broadway) 1990
Gem of the Ocean 2003
Taught a playwriting course at Dartmouth College
Wrote a cycle of ten plays each set in a separate
decade of the 20th century
His purpose of these plays was to:
Bring Blacks a sense of their identity and a connection to
their own tradition rooted in Africa, which was lost in
trying to assimilate into White culture
Show Blacks the importance of the present: ”Look at
us…our lives, hopes, dreams, frustrations…who we are
(now).”
August Wilson
Fences
Finished in 1986 in St. Paul
Produced on Broadway 1987
Won Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1987
Plot
Story of a former NBL player, Troy
Maxson, a large man whose presence
overpowers others, and his struggles
with his unfulfilled dreams, fears, and
blackness.
Fences’ Setting
and Structure
Set in the urban industrial
North, 1957-1965, on the eve
of the Civil Rights Movement
Troy’s back porch and small dirt yard with a
partial fence and a tree with ball of rags
hanging
The two-act play covers nine years in nine
scenes-Baseball metaphor
Act I .1-4 covers two weeks
Act II . 1-4 covers several months
Act II . 5 takes place seven years later
Fences
Main Character
Troy Maxson:
53 year-old protagonist
Moved north at the age of 14
Jailed 15 years for homicide
Played in Negro Baseball League with
dreams of playing in Major Baseball League
Now a garbage man on second marriage
with two sons by two wives
Fences
Other characters:
Bono
Troy’s good friend
of many years
Met Troy in prison
Rose Maxson
Troy’s wife
A strong woman who
sees changes in the world
Cory Maxson
Son of Troy and Rose
High school senior
Gifted football player
Fences
Other characters
Gabe:
Troy’s brother,
hurt in war
Thinks he’s the
Archangel Gabriel
Lyons:
Troy’s son from his first marriage
Wants to be a jazz musician
Negro Baseball League
1920-Rube Foster founded NBL
1930’s
drew crowds
of +40,000
outdrew white
teams
Key players
LeRoy Satchel Paige, Pitcher
Josh Gibson, catcher with .400
batting average
Demise of NBL
Jackie Robinson integrated the
National League, 1947 – Brooklyn
Dodgers