Gabe has recently moved out of Troy's house and into his own apartment, something he is very proud of.

He carries a trumpet around his neck to blow and open the gates of heaven. Gabe suffered a head injury in World War II and now believes he is the angel Gabriel. Rose tells him that he has gone to football practice. The next day Troy and Rose get into an argument over his son's apparent laziness. His older son Lyons stops by to ask his father for money Troy is not pleased that Lyons is a struggling musician, but he accepts that Lyons is his own man and is making his own way in life. He sees no better future in sports for his son. Troy had once been a star in the Negro Leagues, but he was heartbroken by his barrier from the majors. Troy's wife, Rose, tells Troy that their son Cory is being recruited to play college football. Troy Maxson and his friend Jim Bono share stories and a bottle of whiskey on a Friday night. LaBonté, meanwhile, might have made more of Troy’s soliloquy with the Grim Reaper, though the film’s thunder and lightning treatment of this scene tipped a little into melodrama.The play begins in 1957. In a key scene where Troy delivers devastating news to Rose, Newman’s emotional response is slower to build than Davis’s indelible effort, but Newman’s take on Rose’s devastation is nonetheless affecting. I found myself believing LaBonté and Newman were a couple, such is their chemistry. Designer Jeremy Allen’s finely detailed two-storey house, porch, and garden recalls the usual set for the epic tragedy of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, another domestic play centred on a morally flawed patriarch. The cast is uniformly excellent, and they pay keen attention to Wilson’s rhythms and locutions while maintaining convincing accents. Sebbens’s production stands up to the inevitable comparison. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Washington and Davis previously honed their understanding of these characters in a Broadway revival of Wilson’s play in 2010. Hollywood star Denzel Washington directed and starred as Troy in the film adaptation, which was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2017, with Viola Davis winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for her searing portrayal as Rose. Troy, who is illiterate, opposes his son’s sporting fancy, wanting him to instead concentrate on “book-learning” so he can “fix cars and build houses”, but Cory suspects his father is acting out of envy.įences comes with a huge pedigree. Troy, a garbage collector who has done time in jail for knifing a man he tried to rob, has been married to Rose (a compelling Zahra Newman) for 18 years, and they have a 17-year-old son, Cory (Darius Williams) who has great prospects for a football career.

Markus Hamilton, Damon Manns, Bert LaBonté, Dorian Nkono and Zahra Newman in Fences.

Fences by August Wilson