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Stage Review of Fences 

Chattanooga Theatre Centre 
Chattanooga, Tennessee 

Saturday, February 16, 2019 

 

By E. Andrew Lee 
Professor of English, Lee University 

              

Staging the play in the round emphasized the home as a 
crucible of volatile reactions among disparate and dynamic 
personalities. 

− Andrew Lee 

Abstract  
A stage review of Fences by August Wilson, staged by the Chattanooga Theatre Centre in Chattanooga, 
Tennessee from Friday, February 15 through Saturday, March 9, 2019.  

Keywords 
August Wilson, Fences, Chattanooga Theatre Centre, Troy Maxson, Rose Maxson, Ricardo C. Morris 

 The 1950s of August Wilson's Fences can seem like a far-away world, but under the 
direction of Ricardo C. Morris at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, the trials of the Maxson 
family seemed immediate, urgent, and inescapable. This production was staged “in the 
round” with audience members seated on three sides surrounding the 
yard and front porch of the Maxson home. The front rows of seats were 
only a few feet away from the actors, creating a powerful immediacy and 
intimacy that only the theatre can provide, an opportunity to eavesdrop 
on the private lives gathered in the Maxson yard, porch, and kitchen. 
Staging the play in the round emphasized the home as a crucible of 
volatile reactions among disparate and dynamic personalities. One 
section of spectators witnessed Lyons and Bono entering and exiting 
stage left, representing the societal threshold where the outside world 
collided with the Maxson family. The yard stage right, on the other 
hand, was a battleground for skirmishes between Troy and Cory, as well 
as the scene of confrontations between Rose and Troy.  
 The exterior of the Maxson home was meticulously realistic, with a wrap-around 
front porch offering a unique vantage point for the audience in the round, as well as a see-
through kitchen window allowing the audience to observe characters inside the house and 
engaging in telephone conversations. There were, however, two incongruities between 
Wilson’s stage directions and this particular set design; these would be insignificant for 
audience members unfamiliar with the script, but these changes seemed puzzling and 

Andrew Lee 



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perhaps a bit conspicuous. One was the absence of the icebox on the front porch, perhaps a 
subtle metaphor for the Maxson family dynamics; the other discrepancy was an actual leather 
baseball tied to a rope hanging from a tree in the Maxson front yard. Wilson’s script describes 

a clump of rags wound tightly into a ball rather than an 
actual baseball—suggesting not only Troy’s ingenuity and 
determination to continue his batting practice even into his 
middle age, but also reminding us that Troy was cast off like 
rags by the major leagues and now is as tightly wound as the 
ball of rags itself.   

When Mateen Muhammed El ambled onto the 
stage as Troy Maxson, bottle in hand and brimming with 
braggadocio, many were stunned into an awed silence. If 
Troy is a larger than life character (and he is), then Morris 
made an ingenious casting choice—Muhammed El is a 
formidable and daunting presence, well over six feet tall, 
built like an NFL tight end, with muscular forearms 
suggesting, appropriately, a pair of baseball bats ready for 
battle at any moment. Muhammed El’s portrayal of Troy at 
times seemed reminiscent of Denzel Washington in the 
Oscar-nominated movie, from squinting in anger at his 

defiant son Cory, to his playfully assertive posturing when speaking to his wife Rose in front 
of Jim Bono. Indeed, Muhammed El made Troy seem like 
three different men—amiable with Bono, aggressive with 
Cory, and usually frisky and affectionate with Rose. 

 Opposite Muhammed El, E’Tienne F. Easley was magnificent as the long-suffering 
yet resilient Rose Maxson. When tenderly teasing Troy about 
his exaggerated storytelling, or erupting into anguish at her 
husband’s betrayals, Easley’s Rose was pitch-perfect whether 
the moment called for affirmation or indignation. The 
intimate staging allowed the audience to see the sweat on 
Rose’s brow during these pivotal moments. Easley seemed 
the most experienced and polished actor among a very strong 
cast. Carlos Davis as Troy’s sounding board, Jim Bono, was 
perhaps the most genuinely likable character in the play—not 
only due to Wilson’s sensitive and nuanced characterization, 
but also due to Davis’s authenticity and infectious spirit of 
camaraderie. Davis’s Bono was the friend who never faltered, 
a truth-teller, and Davis made him affable, thoughtful, and 
believable. Moreover, he elicited sympathy with Troy even at 
Troy’s lowest moments, rather like a Greek chorus 
interpreting the action for the audience.  
 Jeffery Pinkerton as Troy’s mentally disabled brother, 
Gabriel Maxson, faced perhaps the most difficult challenge—
to make Gabe memorable and prophetic without lapsing into 
lazy caricature which might evoke the audience’s ridicule or 
contempt. Pinkerton’s baldness and slight build paralleled Gabe’s fragile mental state, and he 
excelled by remaining within himself and resisting any over the top antics. Gabriel’s character 
evoked our admiration rather than our laughter, and gratitude for his optimism and loyalty 
rather than pity or shame for his tragic circumstances. William Elston made a stalwart turn as 
Troy’s wayward son Lyons Maxson; an oversized hat hid his dreadlocks, perhaps belying 
Lyons’ wariness about his father’s disapproval, yet his steadfast belief in the redeeming power 
of music leaves us believing his future may be bright after all. The two youngest members of 

E'Tienne F. Easley and Mateen 
Muhammed El as Rose and Troy 

Nyla Jacks and Caleb Golson as 
Raynell and Cory 



L E E :  S T A G E  R E V I E W  O F  F E N C E S  

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the cast were the most delightfully surprising—Caleb Golson as Cory and Nyla Jacks as 
Raynell. Golson, a Chattanooga native, was astonishing with his baby-faced yearning for 
Troy’s approval, gradually evolving into equivocal defiance. The production program noted 
that Golson is renowned locally as “Caleb the Poet,” and his performance as Cory was 
dramatically lyrical and moving—we wanted to see him emerge victoriously from these trials. 
Appearing in only the final scene of the play, Nyla Jacks’s Raynell  was the rainbow after the 
storm, pig-tailed and adorable, allowing us to breathe and to believe—her garden will grow; 
her life will be beautiful, and she will somehow atone for, as Wilson writes in the play’s preface, 
“the sins of the fathers.”   
 Director Ricardo Morris orchestrated the play’s enigmatic final scene to make Troy’s 
entrance into Heaven not only plausible but persuasive. Morris effectively utilized the close 
proximity of the round theatre by having Troy’s silhouette appear in an upstairs bedroom 
window as Gabe performed a soft-shoe shuffle and the stage lights brightened, marking the 
moment of Troy’s redemption. Though dead, Troy was still here, and the intimate staging 
emphasized his abiding presence. 

Work Cited 

Wilson, August.  Fences.  Theatre Communications Group.   2007. 

Author Bio 

Dr. Andrew Lee is Professor of English at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee.   
 
 

 
 



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All images courtesy Chattanooga Theatre Centre. 
 

 
Articles in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its  

D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. 

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	Stage Review of Fences
	Abstract
	Keywords

	Work Cited
	Author Bio

