International City Theatre presents August Wilson’s ‘Fences’

LONG BEACH, Calif. - July 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Troy Maxson has stepped up to the plate too many times in his life only to go down swinging. Shut out of the big leagues by prejudice, the former Negro League home run king is now a garbage collector with little future. He tries to do right by his family, but when his youngest son Cory shows promise on the high school football team, Troy must come to terms with his past disappointments or risk tearing his family apart. Set in the 1950s, Fences is the sixth entry in August Wilson’s “Century Cycle,” a decade-by-decade exploration of the black experience in 20th century America. ICT celebrates the 30th anniversary of this modern American classic, a Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winner (“Best Play” and “Best Revival”) that is Wilson at his best: challenging the American dream through a poetic, powerful, and deeply personal story.

“Here in America whites have a particular view of blacks,” Wilson explained in an interview with The Paris Review. “I think my plays offer them a different way to look at black Americans. For instance, in Fences, they see a garbage man, a person they don’t really look at, although they see a garbage man every day. By looking at Troy’s life, white people find out that the content of this black garbage man’s life is affected by the same things — love, honor, beauty, betrayal, duty. Recognizing that these things are as much a part of his life as theirs can affect how they think about and deal with black people in their lives.”

“Blacks see the content of their lives being elevated into art,” he continued. “They don’t always know that it is possible, and it’s important for them to know that.”

Two years after its 1985 premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre, Fences opened on Broadway where it garnered Wilson’s first Pulitzer Prize as well as Drama Desk and Tony Awards for “Best Play.” A 2010 production garnered the play its second Tony, for “Best Revival.”

Fences runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., Aug. 21 through Sept. 13. Two preview performances take place on Wednesday, Aug. 19 and Thursday, Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $46 on Thursdays and Fridays, and $48 on Saturdays and Sundays, except opening night (Aug. 21), for which tickets are $54 and include a post-performance reception with the actors, and previews which are $34. International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach, CA 90802. For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at 562-436-4610.