FENCED IN AND LASHING OUT

A powerful touring revival of
August Wilson’s enduring drama

Dorian Missick as Troy Maxson and De’Adre Aziza as Rose

The Old Globe Theatre is presenting August Wilson’s 1987 drama Fences, part of his cycle of plays about African American life in the industrial United States during the 20th century. Each play explores Black life in a different decade, in an unnamed Northern industrial city, probably Pittsburgh.

Wilson set Fences in the 1950s. The play focuses on Troy Maxson, an ex-convict, heavy drinker, womanizer, and former baseball player. Maxson is an angry man, bitter because Major League Baseball ignored him because of his color. So he supports himself and his family by working as a garbage collector. The 53-year-old Maxson’s resentment leads to family conflict, notably friction with his teenage son Cory.

Dorian Missick as Troy Maxson and Rondrell McCormick as Jim Bono

Maxson is building a slat wooden fence around his house—not only to keep the white world at a distance, but also to keep away Death, a force he insists he has wrestled with and defeated. Still resentful of his exclusion from the major leagues, Troy ridicules Cory’s pursuit of a college football scholarship. Unfaithful as a husband, Troy still expects his wife, the strong-willed and loving Rose, to shoulder the consequences of his actions and hold the family together.

Donathan Walters as Gabriel, De’Adre Aziza as Rose, Omari K. Chancellor as Cory, Rondrell McCormick as Jim Bono, and Dorian Missick as Troy Maxson

Wilson’s plays are noted for their monologues. In one, Troy recalls how, at 14, he left his family to travel north, only to find himself without a job or a home. He was shot while trying to rob a man and imprisoned for 15 years.

The original Broadway production won thunderous praise for James Earl Jones as Troy and Mary Alice as Rose, both receiving Tony Awards along with the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. This touring production is superbly led by Dorian Missick as Troy—less physically and vocally imposing than Jones, but still riveting in a slightly more restrained performance. De’Adre Aziza is a superb Rose, and Omari K. Chancellor is very good in the less showy role of Cory. There is also excellent work by Mister Fitzgerald as Troy’s older son Lyons and Rondrell McCormick as his friend Jim Bono.

De’Adre Aziza as Rose and Dorian Missick as Troy Maxson

A special salute goes to Donathan Walters as Troy’s brother Gabriel, who suffered a severe head injury during World War II and believes he is the Angel Gabriel.

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg directs the production with a strong hand, navigating its many complex, semi-tragic threads. Lawrence E. Moten III designed the superb backyard set, while Yvonne L. Miranda created spot-on period costumes. Lighting is by Sherrice Mojgani, with sound design by Leon Rothenberg.

Rondrell McCormick as Jim Bono, Mister Fitzgerald as Lyons, Omari K. Chancellor as Cory, and De’Adre Aziza as Rose

Fences demonstrates, once again, what a treasure August Wilson is to American culture. His insights into race, family, and the evolving identity of Black Americans remain as powerful as ever.

De’Adre Aziza as Rose and Omari K. Chancellor as Cory

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photos by Rich Soublet II

Fences
The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, San Diego
Tue–Fri at 7; Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 2 & 7
ends on May 3, 2026
for tickets ($44+), call 619.238.0043 x2356 or visit The Old Globe

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