“Fences”

Have you ever skipped over stage directions while reading a play and not realized how important they are until viewing the play live? Well that’s how the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s production of August Wilson’s well-known play Fenceswas for me. The placement of actors in specific locations during different scenes brought this play to life because it elicited a variety of emotions from the audience.

By utilizing the staircase leading from the backyard to the porch of the Maxson’s house, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company allows for the audience to personally connect to the emotional aspect of each character. Throughout the play, each character spends time on the staircase and during each moment the audience reacts in different ways. Whether it be through laughter when Troy and lifelong friend Bono joke around with each other and tell stories or with tears and chills when Raynell and Cory sing “Old Blue” together before they go to Troy’s funeral. Whether it brings about tears or laughter the actors being placed on the staircase is essential to bringing about the audience’s emotions.

During the play, as a member of the audience, I felt Rose’s rage and pain when Troy stands below her on the porch steps and explains to her that he is having a child with another woman. By having Rose positioned above Troy it gave her a sense of empowerment and the strength to stand up to him. This is important because throughout the play Troy treats Rose as though she is just another woman and takes her for granted, but in this scene she is courageous. This allows for the audience to stand in Rose’s shoes and feel her built up anger at Troy, but also to see the strong woman that she is for willingly offering herself as Raynell’s mother. At this time, the audience feels sympathetic towards Rose and Raynell and knows that if Raynell is being cared by Rose she is in very capable hands. Personally, I also felt like cheering for Rose at this moment for being brave enough to stand up to Troy knowing that she is risking her Also, during this scene, Gabe Maxson, Troy’s brother, comes barging in and stands in between Rose and Troy on the stairs. This shows Gabe’s innocence and obliviousness to what is going on around him due because of his traumatic brain injury. Being directed to stand in the middle of Troy and Rose infuriated me, a member of the audience. The entire time I just wanted to yell at him to move out of the way and stop talking so that I could focus on the dialogue between Rose and Troy. This specific scene on the staircase with Rose standing above Troy shows how she has taken control of her own life and is not allowing Troy into their house, which is a passageway to her heart and elicits a multitude of different emotions from the audience.

Although the breaking of character and the casting was not flawless, the play overall was very entertaining. The blocking in the play Fencesfurther shows how the characters develop in the play and their relationships with each other which in turn evokes an assortment of emotions.