Fences won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1987 as the third of the ten play Pittsburgh Cycle that remains Wilson’s most important work.  Set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District where Wilson was born in 1945 to a German father and Black mother, the plays address the struggles of Pittsburgh’s Black population—poor, marginalized, discriminated against, yet living with a rich culture and occasional joy.

Wilson never finished high school and until is mid-20’s had a series of menial jobs, even failing to complete a 3 year enlistment in the Army, but his poetry and then his self-directed play caught the attention of the Black arts community in Pittsburgh and eventually his 10 play cycle was performed in its entirety by the Seattle Repertory Theater.  In addition to ‘Fences’, another Pittsburgh cycle play, ‘The Piano Lesson’ won the Pulitzer, and many of his plays were nominated for Tony and Drama Desk  awards. The 2016 adaptation of Fences directed by and starring Denzel Washington resulted in an Oscar nomination for Wilson as the Best Adapted Screenplay.

While reading this play, I could not shake the image of Denzel Washington who played the leading character Troy Maxson, a role created by James Earl Jones on Broadway 30 years earlier.  Maxson works on a garbage truck in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, banned from driving due to his race, a similar experience to his broken dreams of playing major league baseball.  Maxson is driven by his sense of responsibility to take care of his family, two sons by different women and ultimately a daughter by a third, but he is so angry about how life has treated him that he drives his loved ones away.  His wife Rose is the heroine of the story and his son Cory is the survivor.

Reading the play in the comfort of my Vermont study, I was struck by the power of theater, even if only in reading it.  The immediacy of the dialogue, the visual impact even if only imagined, the ability to fly through time and space by simply changing the scenery—all combined to provide a moving and powerful experience.

I’ve seen ‘Fences’ and two of the other Cycle plays performed live and I hope to continue to explore Wilson’s work.  In addition, Washington has committed himself to continue to bring Wilson’s plays to the movie screen.  Tragic that Wilson died at 60.