Fences

by August Wilson

A friend recommended this play, and it was great. Arthur Wilson is a black playwright who wrote stories of black people in Pittsburgh (or unnamed big cities that look a lot like Pittsburgh). This play opened in 1985 starring James Earl Jones as Troy.

After the title page, there’s this little poem:

When the sins of our fathers visit us

We do not have to play host.

We can banish them with forgiveness

As God in His Largeness and Laws.

We can banish the sins of our fathers by forgiving them. Good advice!

“Rose enters,” followed by a few sentences of intro, like “her devotion [to her husband Troy] stems from recognizing the possibilities of life without him”. I wonder what the intro would look like for people in my life. Some would be pretty straightforward, but some would be terrifying. The playwright knows too much! (5)

“Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.” (10) The theme of death pops up pretty early and consistently. Troy wrestles with Death like Jacob wrestled with God. (11-12) But for three days and nights, like the Sign of Jonah.

I didn’t take a lot of notes while reading this, just got sucked into the story and the vernacular way the characters speak. A plot synopsis (with SPOILERS):

Troy is a black garbage man. He’s been petitioning the city to let black men drive the trucks sometimes, not just pick up the cans. (He succeeds, although then it’s revealed that he doesn’t even have a license!)

He was a good baseball player once. He tried to move into the MLB, but he was too old (according to his wife Rose) or was passed over for white players (according to himself). His son Cory is being recruited for college football, but Troy won’t have it – he thinks Cory will never be given a real chance and doesn’t want him to pursue it.

Troy doesn’t take any backtalk, but he gives a lot of it. He spouts off about every little thing.

His brother Gabe had a serious brain injury in the war and now thinks he is the archangel Gabriel.

Troy reveals that he’s cheated on Rose, and his mistress is going to have a baby. She ends up dying giving birth. Rose agrees to raise the baby – “this child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” Troy basically loses his family’s respect, but they still operate as a family – he earns money, Rose cares for everyone, etc.

There are a couple of flash-forwards, and the final scene is about 7 years later, at Troy’s funeral. Cory shows up, now a colonel in the Marine corp. Gabe finally blows his trumpet, but it has no mouthpiece and makes no sound. He dances dramatically to close the play – I would like to see this sometime.