The New York Times reports that Denzel Washington will star in what many consider August Wilson's greatest masterpiece, Fences. The revival will come to Broadway in the Spring of 2010.
Fences swept the 1987 awards winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as best play in the Drama Critics Circle Awards, the Tony Awards, and the Drama Desk Awards. James Earl Jones also won a Tony for his portrayal of the lead male character, Troy.
The play is the sixth play in a ten part series known as the Pittsburgh Cycle. Like most of Wilson's plays, Fences explores race relations and the African-American family in the 1950's. The play centers around the patriarch Troy's estranged relationship with his son and his wife Rose after he leaves them for another woman and tries to come back into the family. The play also deals with matters of economic hardship and issues of racial equality in America just prior to the Civil Right Movement.
Denzel Washingon, last appeared on Broadway in 2005 as Brutus in "Julius Caesar." The actor received an Academy Award for best actor for "Training Day" in 2001, and for best supporting actor for "Glory" in 1989.
The Times notes that the dates of the revival have not been confirmed as the producers, Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott Rudin, had not authorized comment at this time. Kenny Leon, who directed "A Raisin in the Sun" and two Wilson plays on Broadway, "Gem of the Ocean" and "Radio Golf," is in negotiations to direct the production..
