Randuwa II: Ford's Theatre: Fences

Sometimes the best part of a play is happening around the play. I would say that's true here. I met a lovely couple Edie and Evran. We had such a lovely conversation before and during intermission.

Now, the play was fine. I've never seen it before. I've never seen the recent movie. I had no idea what it was about before seeing it today. Explaining the story, since I assume most of you probably have seen the movie, seems unnecessary. The story reminds me of "Death of a Salesman" Troy Maxson is a man with many of the same characteristics as those of Willy Loman. Or does he? This is the crux of my tepidness around the production. The actor portraying Troy, Craig Wallace, played Loman on this same stage in autumn of 2017. I couldn't shake the similarities between the way Wallace approached both characters. As such, Troy felt as tired of his life as he did angry over it. The actor may have been attempting to bridge the relationship between the two; however, the overall performance lacked an emotional center. This out this anchor the other actors mostly just came and went from scene to scene. KenYatta Rogers whom I had recently seen in the role of Caesar Wilks in another of Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle plays, "Gem of the Ocean", was a disappointment. I was so impressed his his performance in "Gem of the Ocean", but as Lyons Maxson he basically offered us the same character as before only with different lines, as a different character, in a different play. Justin Weaks as the other son, Cory Maxson, also failed to deliver the emotional transformation it would seem his character was designed to offer. The exception in the family was Erika Rose's portrayal of Tory's wife, Rose Maxson. She came to the table ready to deliver and gave the strongest performance of the cast.

All of this notwithstanding, I still enjoyed the play. While I found myself compensating at times for the actions of the stage, I still understood the story's arch and the writer's craft. The set was beautiful. The view from my seat fine.