Tony Todd Returns to Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival to Star in August Wilson's FENCES

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival announces veteran stage, film, and television actor Tony Todd will return to play the role of Troy Maxson in August Wilson's Fences. The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play will open this summer at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA.

Mr. Todd returns to the Festival following his highly lauded performance last season in August Wilson's How I Learned What I Learned.

With an acting career spanning more than 30 years, Todd has an extensive list of credits in all genres. His films include Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning Platoon; Lean On Me with Morgan Freeman; Clint Eastwood's Bird; and the voice of the Fallen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; among many others.

The charismatic six-foot-five actor is perhaps best known for his chilling performances in horror and sci-fi films including the title role in the Candyman franchise, as well as the Hatchet and Final Destination franchise hits, along with Night of the Living Dead, The Crow, and The Rock.

On stage he has received accolades for numerous roles including a coveted Helen Hayes Award nomination for his performance in Athol Fugard's The Captain's Tiger at the La Jolla Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, and The Kennedy Center; and originating the title role in the world premiere of August Wilson's King Hedley II in Pittsburgh, Boston, and Seattle. (Variety lauded, "Todd's King Hedley dominates the stage." His performance "was a memorable tour-de-force.")

"Tony's versatility, artistry, and craft as an actor, coupled with his rich experience with August Wilson's plays, will prove invaluable in plumbing the depths of this force-of-nature leading role," says Producing Artistic Director, Patrick Mulcahy. "We are so pleased to have an actor of Tony Todd's caliber leading this cast as we bring this masterwork of the American theatre to life this summer."

Fences will be helmed by director Ryan Quinn, co-founder and artistic director of Esperance Theater Company in New York City. He also serves as a company member with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Directing credits include Twelfth Night, Youth and Ambition (a mash up of Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth) at Esperance Theater Company; Macbeth, two productions of Romeo & Juliet, and The Two Noble Kinsman at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival; So Thrive My Soul (an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet) at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and many more. In addition to his directing credentials, Quinn is also an accomplished actor and educator. He earned his BA in Theater from the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he was awarded the Smith and Butt prize for artistic achievement. He received his MFA in Acting from Yale School of Drama. Most recently, Quinn was seen Off-Broadway performing in Second Stage's world premiere of Whorl Inside a Loop.

Fences will preview at 7:30pm on July 27 and 28. Opening night is Friday, July 29 at 7:30pm, and the production runs through August 7. Single tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online at www.pashakespeare.org or by calling the box office at 610.282.WILL [9455].

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America, August Wilson's groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama depicts the yearnings and struggles of the Maxson family. Troy Maxson, a former home run king of the Negro baseball leagues now supports his family as a garbage collector, and builds fences around a world he has battled his entire life. An epic work of stunning poetry by a Pennsylvania native, Fences has been hailed by critics as "a blockbuster piece of theater" and "the strongest, most passionate American dramatic writing since Tennessee Williams." A timeless story of fathers and sons, husbands and wives, dreams and realities, Fences is a true American classic.

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