Broadway Blog - FENCES Review Roundup

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 began on 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.

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: " Mr. Washington and Ms. Davis prove that lovers don’t have to be as young and star-crossed as Romeo and Juliet to generate shiver-making heat and pathos."

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: "Bottom Line: Look for Washington's fans to show up in droves for this superb revival of August Wilson's award-winning drama."

Wendell Brock, Atlanta Journal Constitution: "As directed by Leon and supported by the estimable Viola Davis as Troy’s wife, Rose, Washington leaves his scorching, charismatic fingerprints all over the baseball bat long associated with James Earl Jones, whose original 1987 performance earned him a Tony Award and positioned this Pulitzer Prize winner as Wilson’s most accessible and familiar work. Swigging gin and swinging at his own mortality, Troy rails at the heavens, but he knows he is a marked man, and it is that scared gleam in his eye that makes Washington's Troyso recognizably human."

Michael Sommers, NJ Newsroom: "Successfully stepping into big shoes originally worn by James Earl Jones, Washington warmly depicts Troy as a goodhearted soul who strives to do the right thing by his family yet is sidetracked by pride, bitter experience and a sexual itch. Always a vital presence, Washington insightfully explores Troy's many emotional levels and integrates them into an altogether touching portrait of a vigorous man damaged but unbowed by his troubles past and present."

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "In its previous New York incarnation, "Fences," one of Wilson's 10 decade-by-decade works chronicling the black experience in 20th century America, proved to be his most commercially successful Broadway production. You can see why in this revival. The people he created are so gloriously, recognizably human."

Erik Haagensen, Backstage: "Denzel Washington is magnificent in the role indelibly created by James Earl Jones, and the astonishing Viola Davis matches him every step of the way. It's a deeply moving, hugely satisfying evening of theater."

Marilyn Stasio, Variety: " No, you don't need to frontload the production with a star to mount a successful revival of "Fences." August Wilson's 1987 drama, the Pulitzer Prize-winning centerpiece of his 10-play Century Cycle about the African-American experience, is a masterpiece, and this meticulously mounted production does it proud. That said, it definitely does not hurt to have a high-wattage superstar like Denzel Washington toplining the show in the role originally defined by James Earl Jones. Although quirkily cast as a gruff, middle-aged sanitation worker, Washington turns in a heartfelt performance as one of the true tragic heroes of modern American theater"

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: "This isn't an area in which Broadway typically bats a thousand, of course, but Leon and Washington have hit a collective home run."

Brendan Lemon, Financial Times: "At such moments, you are aware of Washington’s commanding gifts as an actor; at other times, his directness seems hollow. In sensitive moments, Washington reminds me of what Hollywood siren Raquel Welch once observed of her football-legend-turned-movie-actor co-star, Jim Brown: “He has trouble melting.”"

Charles McNulty, LA Times: "The two-time Academy Award winner is not as natural a Troy as James Earl Jones, who earned a Tony for originating the role of a gifted athlete denied his turn at the big time by policies of segregation. Nor is Washington able to lose himself in his sanitation overalls the way Laurence Fishburne did in the 2006 Pasadena Playhouse production. But despite these drawbacks, Washington turns in a lucid outline of man who can't avoid hurting those he cares about most."

Linda Winer, Newsdsay:"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."

Erik Haagensen, Backstage: "Leon knocks it out of the park with this beautifully calibrated realization of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize–winning "Fences." Denzel Washington is magnificent in the role indelibly created by James Earl Jones, and the astonishing Viola Davis matches him every step of the way. It's a deeply moving, hugely satisfying evening of theater."

Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: " Denzel Washington is the draw for this revival of August Wilson's "Fences." But it's the play itself that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats: This is pure, unabashed melodrama -- the kind where the line "Got something to tell you" never introduces good news."

Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly: "Denzel Washington is giving a grand, sell-it-to-the-balcony, crowd-thrilling performance as Negro League ballplayer–turned–trash collector Troy Maxson in Fences."

Joe Dziemianwoicz, NY Daily News: "Denzel Washington barrels onstage in "Fences" and guns it, roaring instantly from zero to 60 in both intensity and volume. He leaves it revving there. All night. After a while, it becomes more exhausting than exhilarating."

John Simon, Bloomberg News: "Washington conveys Troy's thinking and feeling with utmost clarity and dignity, yet also perplexity and, eventually, great but controlled pain. He is matched by the smoldering Rose of Viola Davis, who has to endure a terrific emotional blow -- first stunned, then furious and finally triumphant. "

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "August Wilson's poetry has seldom sounded as prosaic as it does in the new revival of Fences (* * * out of four)."

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