The Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance will present August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Fences, directed by Assistant Professor Duane Boutté, opening October 2. Performances, held in Westhoff Theatre, will be at 7:30 p.m. October 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. October 4.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and can be purchased at the College of Fine Arts Box Office, located in the Center for the Performing Arts: by phone at (309) 438-2535; or online at ticketmaster.com.
Set in 1957 on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement, Fences tells the story of Troy Maxson, a former athlete of the Negro National League. Maxson is consumed with the injustice that barred him from a career in baseball, being too old when the Major League was finally integrated in 1946. While fighting for equality in the workplace and struggling to support his family, Maxson’s bitterness threatens to tear apart his family.
Fences was the third play written by Wilson in his Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of plays depicting African-American life in each decade of the 20th century. In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for playwright August Wilson, the 1987 Broadway performance nearly swept the Tonys, winning for best play, direction of a play (Lloyd Richards), leading actor in a play (James Earl Jones), and featured actress in a play (Mary Alice).
