Two-time Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington returns to Broadway, alongside Academy Award nominee and Tony Award® winner Viola Davis, in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. This strictly limited 13-week engagement begins April 14th at the Cort Theatre. Both a monumental drama and an intimate family portrait, Fences tells the story of Troy Maxson, a man torn between the glory of his past and the uncertainty of his future. Emboldened by pride and embittered by sacrifice, Troy is determined to make life better for future generations, even as he struggles to embrace the dreams of his own son.
The star of a show doesn't always get top billing. Denzel Washington is by far the biggest name associated with the first Broadway revival of August Wilson's 'Fences,' but my guess is that it's Viola Davis whose performance is going to stick with you. Not that Mr. Washington is anything less than solid, but Ms. Davis is something else again. I knew she was a remarkable artist—anyone who saw her in the Off-Broadway premiere of Lynn Nottage's 'Intimate Apparel' or the film version of John Patrick Shanley's 'Doubt' knows that—but what she's doing this time around goes straight into my scrapbook of stage performances from which you learn how brutally true to life great acting can be.
Despite its 1987 Pulitzer Prize and its Tony Award, 'Fences' always was a glorious mess of a drama. As the second of what became August Wilson's monumental 10-play journey through African-American life in the 20th century, the early work is more plotted, structurally clumsy and melodramatic than the rest of the cycle. And that's the last negative observation you'll read in this space. 'Fences' has been magnificently revived - in all its messy glory - by director Kenny Leon with a splendid ensemble topped, but not dwarfed, by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
1987 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2010 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Chris Chalk, |
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Viola Davis |
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music in a Play | Branford Marsalis |
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (tie) | Fences |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Denzel Washington |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Viola Davis |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | 0 |
2010 | Theatre World Awards | Performance | Chris Chalk |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Constanza Romero |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Constanza Romero |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Kenny Leon |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Branford Marsalis |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Stephen McKinley Henderson |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Denzel Washington |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Viola Davis |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Carole Shorenstein Hays |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Scott Rudin |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Santo Loquasto |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Acme Sound Partners |
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