'Fences' review — Ray Fearon is electric in this powerful and vivid production

Read our review of August Wilson's play Fences, now in performances at Lyric Hammersmith to 31 October.

Summary

• August Wilson's Fences plays at Lyric Hammersmith
• The story centres on the Maxson family, who are weighed down by past and present trauma
• Ray Fearon is terrific as bitter patriarch Troy
• Daniel Bailey's sensitive production builds the intensity with care

As number six of his ten-play cycle focusing on the African-American experience, August Wilson’s 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Fences, remains a visceral portrayal of 1950s USA. Civil Rights are on the horizon, but often seem far away to the Maxson family, who are weighed down by past and present violence and trauma.

Patriarch Troy is a former baseball player and ex-convict who now collects garbage from the Pittsburgh streets. Despite this, the Troy we are introduced to is jovial, fast-talking and full of wisecracks. But there are troubling undercurrents. Troy feels robbed of professional sporting success due to the colour of his skin, and continues to feel this inequality as white guys drive the garbage trucks while black workers do the heavy lifting. He dutifully hands his pay packet to his wife, but his sense of familial support ends there.

Generational harm is everywhere. Troy’s monstrous father implanted himself in his psyche; his own sons have dreams, but Troy continually diminishes them and their aspirations. Wilson’s script shows Troy’s humanity in all its complexity: he is much more than just a bitter, resentful man, but one who is damaged and therefore damages all who surround him. Wilson continuously peels back painful layers in this brutal and often pitiless play, but Daniel Bailey directs with sensitivity, building the intensity with exquisite care.

As Troy, Ray Fearon pulsates with disappointment and a sense of bruised ego as his bitterness continually threatens to drown him. Fearon reflects the brutality of a character who only just contains his anger below the surface, often pulling back his top lip to expose his teeth. It would be easy to see him as one-dimensional, but Fearon crackles with contradiction, as his character cannot let go of his past.

Fearon has gorgeous chemistry with Madeline Appiah, who is magnificent as wife Rose. Through her fortitude and hope for the future, Rose is the epitome of stoicism. Having put aside her own ambitions for her family, she exudes a steely core, unafraid to constantly challenge her husband.

Michael Ahomka-Lindsay shows a sense of tired resignation as Lyons, Troy’s son from a previous marriage, knowing he will never impress his father. Josh Tedeku is initially bright and enthusiastic as Cory, determined to remain hopeful about what he can achieve in life. Tedeku’s reactions to his father’s determination to diminish him are raw and incredibly realistic.

Simon-Anthony Rhoden balances the tricky role of Troy’s younger brother, Gabe, very well. After suffering a catastrophic brain injury during the war, he inhabits a dreamlike and innocent world, imagining meeting St Peter at Heaven’s gates. As Troy’s endlessly patient friend Bono, Everal A. Walsh is an amiable foil to Troy’s sharp edges.

Lily Arnold’s set gives us a rundown, two-storey house, surrounded by a gradually completed fence, a washing line, and a fold-out chair. Rooted in the domestic, we see silhouettes of characters inside, as Khalil Madovi’s multi-layered and evocative jazz sound design plays.

An immensely powerful and vivid production, this revival shows why Fences remains one of the most important plays of the 20th century.

Fences is at Lyric Hammersmith to 31 October. Book Fences tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Fences (Photos by Tyler Fayose)