PENINSULA COMMUNITY THEATRE

SWINGS FOR THE FENCES AND SCORES

Theater Babe Says:  Don't Miss It!!

August Wilson's play, Fences, won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play, while its production in 2010 received the Tony for Best Revival.  James Earl Jones originated the main role in 1987 and won the Tony; Denzel Washington won the Tony for his performance in that role twenty-three years later.  In 1987, Mary Alice won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in the original while Viola Davis won the Tony for Best Actress for the same role in the revival.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg of accolades that this remarkable work has accumulated.

A play with that kind of pedigree could easily overwhelm and intimidate an amateur group, but Peninsula Community Theatre's production embraces the challenge and succeeds.  Director Robert Cox has assembled a strong ensemble cast that credibly creates the blue collar world of an African American family in the pre-civil rights era of 1957.  Particularly smart was his selection of actors with uniformly rich, mellifluous voices for a show where the drama is almost exclusively carried by the dialogue.

Jeff Jones is Troy Maxson, a middle aged sanitation worker whose resentment that his talent and dreams of playing professional baseball were thwarted by racism colors his perspective of life.  Mr. Jones' powerful performance is the hub around which the play rotates.  Troy as a character – bitter, critical, a little pompous – could be easy to dislike, but Mr. Jones also finds and amply displays his warmth and humor.  Even as we recognize Troy's flaws, we feel and want better for him.  There is pathos in Mr. Jones' portrayal of Troy's desperation, skillfully hidden under his cantankerousness and wit until the second act when he tries to explain himself to his wife in a compelling monologue.

Sheila Jones as Troy's wife, Rose, gives a performance of quiet intensity.  In the first act, she seems to be nothing more than an uncomplicated woman who takes pride in raising their son and keeping a nice home while amusedly tolerating her husband's penchant for grousing and telling tales.  Ms. Jones has a beautiful singing voice and one of the highlights of the show is her a capella rendition of a simple hymn as she hangs the wash on the line.  In the second act when events take an unexpected turn, Ms. Jones reveals a more complex side of Rose's character, and her soliloquies are mesmerizing.  Most of the time, Ms. Jones plays directly to another actor, and the Theater Babe only wishes that she would play at least part of her monologues to the fourth wall so we can see, as well as hear and feel, her anguish.

Rico Robinson is alternately passionate, sullen, excited and indignant as the Maxsons' teenaged son, Cory.  We believe that he believes his father is deliberately frustrating his prospects for college recruitment only because Troy doesn't want his own athletic accomplishments to be eclipsed by his son; Mr. Robinson's performance is brilliantly self-absorbed and blind to Troy's real fears that Cory will be subjected to the same prejudices that Troy experienced.

One of the few missteps in this excellent production is when the argument between Troy and Rose becomes physical and leads to Cory's intervention.  Although the dialogue suggests that Troy completely loses control, Mr. Jones' performance is restrained and suggests that Cory has merely overreacted, leading to a disconnect between the visible action and the audible words.  Mr. Jones' reaction is understandable, given that Ms. Jones is his wife offstage as well as on, but the scene would be improved with different lighting, perhaps with a slightly red or yellow filter, to add the extra boost of heat that is currently lacking.

Benjamin Banneker Ford, Andre Ledoux and Peter Lucas all give exceptional performances in their supporting roles.  Mr. Ford is pleasantly affable as Troy's friend, Bono, and his candid concern expressed later in the play is persuasive.  Mr. Ledoux is convincing as Troy's eldest and seemingly shiftless son, Lyons, although his performance would benefit from a touch more volume. As Gabe, Troy's brother who sustained a traumatic head injury while serving in the Second World War, Mr. Lucas is superb, faultlessly walking that difficult line between portraying brain-damage and heartless parody.

Worthy of distinction is Jameiah Jones, an eleven year old who makes her acting debut as Raynell in this production.  Her diction is clear, her reactions natural and the Theater Babe applauds Miss Jones for her fine first performance.

The set is an extraordinary rendition of an ordinary home of the period.  Designed by Ellen Eames, and constructed by Jim McLeod and Joe Fox, it depicts the outside of a house with windows through which we can see the kitchen. Clever use of the door and its screen, and the windows that open and close, silently emphasize the changing seasons.  The brick façade is beautiful and scenic artists Ellen Eames, Carol Shulenburg, Bettebelle Libke and Suzanne Allen deserve recognition for their efforts.

Overall, the costumes by Sheila Sandoval evoke the period, although Raynell's nightclothes are conspicuously modern.  The Theater Babe was also distracted by the fact that although his wife changed clothes, Troy remained in the same distinctive rust-colored plaid shirt during certain scenes that were supposed to be on different days.  Presumably Troy does not change because of time constraints – unlike Rose, he is onstage without reprieve – but the Theater Babe suggests that either he should be given different shirts that have Velcro basted over the button-hole side and under the button flap to facilitate a quick costume change ... or Rose should not change her dress ... because as it is the visual disparity serves as an unnecessary distraction from a wonderful performance.

Bottom line?  Make the time and buy a ticket to this first-rate production.  Congratulations to all!

Performances run thru May 20^th, Friday – Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

at the Peninsula Community Theatre,
10521 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia 23601.
Tickets are $16 and can be obtained by
calling the box office at (757) 595-5728 or online at pctlive.org.

© 2012 Hampton Roads Theater Babe.  All Rights Reserved.