Fences (play)

Lore & Background

The play focuses on Troy, a 53-year-old African American working-class man who struggles to provide for his family. In his youth, Troy was an excellent Negro league baseball player but was barred from Major League Baseball due to the color barrier. He now works as a trash collector and later becomes the first black truck driver in Pittsburgh. Troy lives with his wife Rose and teenage son Cory; his brother Gabe, a World War II veteran with psychological damage, lives nearby. The plot follows Troy's conflicts with Cory over a football scholarship, his affair and the birth of a daughter, and his eventual death seven years later.

Reader's Guide

Fences is significant as a key work in August Wilson's 'Pittsburgh Cycle,' chronicling African-American life in the 20th century. Its exploration of race relations, generational conflict, and personal responsibility resonated widely, earning major awards and inclusion in the Western Canon. The play's allegories—such as the fence symbolizing emotional barriers and the Grim Reaper, and Gabriel representing salvation—add depth. Productions include the 1985 Yale Rep premiere, the 1987 Broadway run starring James Earl Jones, and revivals in 2010 with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, and in the UK with Lenny Henry. The play remains a staple of American theater, examining how systemic racism and personal choices shape family dynamics.

Did You Know?

• Fences was first developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's 1983 National Playwrights Conference.
• The play's first Broadway production ran for 525 performances from March 26, 1987 to June 26, 1988.
• The 2010 Broadway revival won Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
• The character Gabriel is an allegory for salvation, wearing a trumpet and believing he speaks with Saint Peter.