Two straight plays in one week? Is this a case of a musical theater junkie gone mad? Fortunately not – I’m just getting back to my roots. Oh, and taking advantage of a killer thrifty theater opportunity! A friend said to me one night in class “Hey, you know about theater, right? What do you know about this free night of theater thing?” I hadn’t heard of it before, but it sounded right up my alley. I told her to email me a link, which led me to Free Night of Theater, which you must check out immediately. Right then and there I signed up for a free ticket to Fences at the PlayMakers Repertory Company, a professional theater located on the campus of UNC in Chapel Hill. When it comes to thrifty theater, there’s nothing better than free, especially for high quality productions like this one.
As usual, I’d like to air my grievances first, just to get them out of the way. The list is short, and they’re not actually about the production itself.
Firstly, even if you are a college student, basketball shorts and a backwards ball cap do not constitute appropriate theater attire. Just put on pants and take off the hat – am I asking too much?
There were a lot of students at this performance, which is fine. In fact, I think it’s beyond great. However, I’m a little frustrated with whichever professor asked them to take notes during the performance. They all used their cell phones as flashlights to see what they were writing while the performance was in progress. Way distracting for those of us in the audience with ADHD.
Whew! Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can get to the good stuff – and there’s plenty of that!
Right off the bat, I’d like to give the PlayMakers Rep an A+ for their late seating policy. On the tickets, they’ve printed “No Late Seating.” What’s even better is that they follow through on that. I’ve had too many opening scenes ruined by latecomers. At the PlayMakers Rep, they’ve got chairs along the back wall of the theater, and discreetly, during a blackout, they let latecomers enter through a rear entrance (the main entrance is in the front), and sit in these chairs. No entire rows have to stand and hear 15 “excuse me”s as folks make their way to center seats five minutes into the show. This makes me want to drop everything and write a really mushy love letter to the PlayMakers Rep immediately.
Also, the production was fantastic! I loved how the set (which was the outside of a Pittsburgh house) included a view into the kitchen so we could see Rose hard at work. I was quite impressed by the cast’s resumes – plenty of New York actors doing spectacular work right here in North Carolina! It was everything I could have hoped for, short of Denzel Washington. I was particularly impressed by the actor playing Gabe – I was moved by his performance, to the point of tears in the final scene. It’s such an intense role, which could have been portrayed any number of ways, but I’m immensely pleased with the acting and artistic choices which went into shaping this incarnation of Gabriel.
This was my first August Wilson play – and I promise it won’t be my last! I was consistently engaged intellectually with the text, and there were two things which are still on my mind, days later. The first is Cory. On an emotional level, I just wanted the kid to be able to play football, to enjoy his youth. However, it’s hard to deny that Troy knows a harsher reality, and one can see why he’d want to protect his son from some of the world’s ugliest truths. But still, it breaks my heart.
The other thing which has been on my mind is Rose. There’s a line which is still echoing in my head: “What about me? When’s my time to enjoy life?” Sure, Troy’s been dealt a tough hand, but Rose had the added pressure of being a woman. I don’t think Rose gets nearly enough credit for how she lives her life. Save for little Raynell, Rose is the only female character. I think what’s most important in understanding Rose is what we don’t see. We’re privileged to a lot of Troy’s personal life, discussions with friends and so on. The social structure is clearly depicted as a man’s world. The character of Rose doesn’t get to chat with friends, drink gin, or ask for a promotion. In fact, when she left to take the cakes to the church for the bake sale, it suddenly occurred to me that that was the only time she’s even left the house! I’m going to continue to ponder August Wilson’s social commentary on the intersection of race, class, and gender as presented through Rose. I’ll let you know if I make any breakthroughs.
Overall, I give this theater experience a big thumbs up. PlayMakers Rep, you can expect my call for tickets to Angels in America – I’m even going to pay!
Glad you enjoyed the production! Hope we get to meet in person one day!
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