THE FALL OF TROY
FENCES
Directed by Ron OJ Parson; written by August Wilson
With: A. C. Smith; Cedric Young, Mimi Ayers, Clifton Williams, Charles
Michael Moore, Robert Lee Taylor, Bianca Abdalla, Judith Abdalla, Amanda
Naimie, Gabrielle Naimie.
At Portland Stage Company in Portland, Maine
From April 8 to April 27, 2003
Reviewed by Laurie Meunier Graves
For many years now, there has been a debate, which is at times tiresome, of
nature versus nurture. Are human beings formed by their genetic inheritance
or by the circumstances in which they were raised? The debate can be intense
as both sides claim to be absolutely correct, and all too often, there is no
middle ground: people are either pawns of their genes or pawns of their
environment.
In fact, as most of us instinctively know, there is a middle ground, and
August Wilson explores this territory in Fences, which is being
performed at Portland Stage Company. Troy Maxson, the main character, feels
as though he has been ill used by life. He spends his time brooding about
lost opportunities and paths not taken. In short, he is a bitter man with
many grievances, and this bitterness, of course, affects his entire life.
Yet, we can certainly understand why Troy Maxson might feel bitter. As an
African-American growing up on a poor farm in the south in the early 1900s,
Maxson had ample opportunity to experience the effects of race and class.
Vivid images come to mind of that era—the Klan, the lynchings, segregation.
How could such an environment not affect a person? And when we hear Maxson’s
stories of how, because of the color of his skin, he never became a
major-league baseball player, our sympathies are with him.
However, his story is not the whole story, and we soon realize that Maxson
is an unreliable narrator. It doesn’t take long to discover that Maxson’s
version of reality is different from his wife Rose’s version, and that Rose
has a clearer understanding of the situation than Maxson does. Yes, race is
an issue, but so are the choices that Maxson made, and some of those
choices—robbing and killing—put him in jail. Because of this, he doesn’t
start playing ball until he’s released from jail and is approaching middle
age. Therefore, when Maxson complains that he was the “wrong color for
baseball,” Rose’s response is that he “was too old for baseball.” And she is
correct. Most baseball players have finished their careers by the time they
are forty. Rose, of course, is not a fool and does realize that race has
held back ballplayers. However, her response to this is: “Times are
changing.” The time they are in is 1957, not 1937, and Rose is looking
ahead, not behind. Her focus is on her teenaged son, who is on the football
team at school and because of this has a chance to get a college
scholarship.
But Troy Maxson doesn’t listen to Rose, and he is not able to look ahead. He
is as hard as the dirt-packed yard of Portland Stage Company’s wonderful
set. Maxson has a house, a family, and friends, but it is not enough for
him. He can’t stop thinking about his past, which was admittedly harsh. When
Maxson tells stories about dealing with death and the devil, we know that
although his tales are not literally true, they nonetheless are symbolically
true.
For many years, after his marriage to Rose, Maxson was able to keep his
bitterness in check and was a faithful husband, a good friend, and a loyal
brother. However, his son Cory, who has opportunities that Maxson never had,
is the catalyst that unleashes Maxson’s negative emotions, and he goes from
being stern and hard yet steadfast to becoming a devouring parent who
betrays not only his son but also his wife and his brother.
This downward spiral is horrifying to watch, and Portland Stage Company does
a terrific job with this intense play. Cedric Young, who plays Troy Maxson,
gives us a portrait of a dominating man with a huge personality, who under
different circumstances might have been a different person. However, Mr.
Young also shows us the destructive side of Troy Maxson and how much of the
pain in this story comes from this aspect of his personality. Robert Lee
Taylor, who plays Troy’s son Cory, is appropriately fresh-faced, lithe,
impatient, and full of energy. He lets us see how Cory wants to love his
father, how he craves his approval, and how he paradoxically wants to break
free. Mimi Ayers, as Rose, does a good job of portraying a woman who is so
far ahead of her husband that he has no hope of ever catching up with her.
The only complaint is that she looks far too young to be Cory’s mother, but
in the end, her performance is strong enough to overcome this. The rest of
the small cast is equally good: A.C. Smith as Maxson’s burly but gentle
friend Bono; Clifton Williams as Maxson’s troubled son from another
marriage; and especially Charles Michael Moore as the beatific Gabriel, who
is Maxson’s brother.
Throughout the course of the play, Troy and Cory build a white picket fence
for their small yard. Fences, of course, can symbolize many things. They can
define territory, and they can provide a sense of security and enclosure.
They can keep things out, and they can keep things in. Not surprisingly, it
is Rose who wants this fence, and neither Cory nor Troy can understand why.
Of all the characters in the play, she is the one who is able to see the
need for boundaries and to grasp the contradictions of human nature that are
symbolized by fences.
