The Grand Design of FENCES - Part I

Today, we are talking to the creative team of the ten-time Tony-nominated revival of FENCES starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis playing to packed houses every night on Broadway. Last night, this production was awarded with Drama Desk Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Best Supporting Actress - Viola Davis and Best Music In A Play - Branford Marsalis. In this first part of a three-part series, the team discusses what drew them to FENCES and August Wilson's work in the first place, hat his work means to them and the notion of collaboration. And so much more...

Overture

What I've attempted to achieve in this three-part interview series is to conduct and create a serious and revealing discussion of the themes of Wilson's play and what the play has to offer to a modern audience, nearly thirty years after it was written and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. All of the participants shared their own personal experiences of working on this particular production of the play and what Wilson's work means to them personally. The notion of collaboration is perhaps more paramount in this production of the piece than any before, especially given its naturalistic, realistic staging and design complete with a few choice moments of pure raw theatricality in the actor‘s apt hands. It is a rich tapestry of a play and a production so it felt most appropriate in assembling this article to reflect the eloquence expressed in each and every case as a way to reflect the creators' insights in a format evocative of Wilson's most-preferred stream-of-consciousness-style mode of discourse. A compendium of comments. A collage.

All the interviews were conducted separately, yet I found so many of the responses bespoke similar sentiments and, as a result, arranged the following responses according to their applicableness to the topic more than their sequence in the actual individual interviews conducted with each participant. Certain questions were asked of everyone, and in every case the responses were far too illuminative to reduce beyond comprehensibility as is usually the case. Thank goodness for the verbosity the internet age allows. Fear not: the prose and discourse may be dense, but the content is compellingly profound and demonstrative of the power Wilson's words have over those who live and work with his works in creating productions of his plays on a professional level, such as these artists of the theatre.

The Cast

First & Foremost: Introductions of the six participants, so far, in an ever-growing tapestry celebrating Wilson‘s wondrous work:

Kenny Leon, director

Constanza Romero, costume designer & Wilson's widow

Santo Loquasto, set designer

Nevin Steinberg, sound designer

Branford Marsalis, composer

Brian MacDevitt, lighting designer

Note: All interviews were conducted in May 2010.

Collaboration & Beginnings

"Theatre Is The Most Collaborative Artform" - August Wilson

 

Kenny Leon: It starts from the top. It starts with August Wilson. This is a tribute to August. August always said, contrary to what most people believe, "I write the play, now you direct it." He wanted directors to direct, designers to design, and he would write. He wanted everyone to work as hard as he did. And, so, with this, we all worked 125%. We all worked at the same level. Like August said, "If I want to write a book, I'll write a book. But, theatre is the most collaborative artform." Which means that: no particular idea comes from any one source. I can solve a problem, sometime it's solving it with lights, sometimes it's solving it with clothes, sometimes it's solving it with the actors. Every element of this play was solved by the people involved. It was like everybody went home, did their homework, came into the laboratory and we decided together what was right for the show. So, collaboration for me involves all the best ideas of many, many talented people to solve all of the various moments of the play.

Constanza Romero: August would always have a refrain, "No one in the theatre works until the writer does his job." The ushers don't work. The candy sellers don't work. The people who iron the shirts to go onstage, nobody works before the writer starts putting pen to paper. So, he always liked to remind people that it all starts as an idea and a process. At times, a very grueling and very painful process for a writer. He always wanted to remind people of the importance of the writer. He always wanted people to come to the table having done as much work as he had. He didn't let himself off easy with his writing. He always said he liked to leave blood on the page.

Santo Loquasto: On FENCES that is sort of hard, isn't it? First of all, I think that between the text and the director's approach - whether he has formulated it or not - you can ask a certain number of questions to figure out where he is starting from. And, then, if it is a matter of you going at it first, it's usually about being confident enough, I think, to show a director an idea - whether in model form or sketches or however - and then being able to take their response and either to completely change it... [As a set designer] I mean, it's really about finding the physical manifestation to capture what they envision... In terms of collaborating, yes, you try to interpret what the director is envisioning, but you also bring your instinct to it. And, in a way, they expect you to. Even if they wind up changing it, or re-routing it, or dismissing it. Often you have a very strong notion of how you want to approach it. I've always said about myself, since I really do like the collaborative part: it's a matter of being flexible. It's a matter of finding the best way for the director to work in the space and trying to create that space for him. Costumes are another thing. It's really about helping him solve his problems in the plan. The decorative part of it follows. It's about traffic. It's about how, in a play that is very static - like FENCES - how you can lay out the terrain, so that there are enough areas so that you can move around in what is just the, you know, the backyard of this house and it has enough variety to keep it interesting. Not only interesting for the audience - which I think they don't even think about - I think it's because of the way Kenny staged it. It's so without theatrical punctuation, it's so effortlessly done. And, yet, I watched how he worked. You know, he's a very low-key guy. It's very interesting. You know, it was very pressured between the closing of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE and our first preview. When Denzel would come by on breaks, or after rehearsals at the end of the day, and he would just kind of, you know, in a very "Oh, I'm just here hangin' out," nonchalant way, he was checking out the terrain and he was figuring out - because, you know, when you look at the tape on the floor it doesn't mean anything in rehearsAl Hall. He sort of said, "I get this", essentially, "I get that it rakes up and down, here I can just sit on the porch, I don't even have to lift myself up like I did in the rehearsAl Hall." Moments like that.

Nevin Steinberg: It's a little bit fleeting. This is sort of the ideal definition of collaboration, but I always think of it as the best ideas in the theatre rarely are attributable to an individual. They are almost always the result of two or more - of the design team and creative team applying all of their talented and all of their focus to the moment - working together to find the best way to tell the story.

Branford Marsalis: I wrote a lot of the music before I saw the play, just from reading the play. I was in Asia for three weeks and when I came back Kenny called and said, "You gotta come in and see the play!" I said, "Man, I only have two days off! I have to go to Germany!" He said, "I don't care. You can't write the music unless you see the play live." So, I reluctantly went to New York and I was amazed. They knocked my socks off. I told Kenny, "You're right. I'm glad you made me listen to you." And I rewrote the music. You see, I had written all this music based on the words but I had missed the emotional mark in the production. Where the actors were taking the play's emotions. I didn't know where the actors would take it emotionally. For example, at the sexy scene at the end of Scene One. Do you want it to be the syrupy, cornball stuff you see on TV shows now? No. We decided we wanted it to be old junk blues. Like people would play in the 50s - the play takes place in ‘57. We wanted to have, you know (demonstrates saxophone sounds). You know that thing they always do. We wanted it to be like old playful blues. Make it flirty. Those were all things I would never have done just from reading the play.

Brian MacDevitt: I worked with Kenny on RAISIN IN THE SUN and that was great, it was my first introduction to Kenny. He's really kind of the heart and soul of this production. In a way, reminding everyone to be honest and true to their hearts. Constanza's so great, too.

Constanza Romero: Just having lived as long as I did with August, I define it as the best way of working. At the start of my career, I was an artist and a painter. I would draw. But, I couldn't stay in a room by myself. It was a very frustrating thing. I knew that I could become a good painter or artist but the separation and isolation was really hard. So, I think most theatre artists are people who really want to sit in a room and talk about ideas with other artists. They want to have their art be part of an experience that is bigger than what they would have created by themselves. I think that's what makes all of us designers get excited about how our part will fit into the whole. I live for that. For example, having the color working against Santo Loquasto's set is fantastic.

Kenny Leon: I met August Wilson back in ‘88 right after his stuff had hit Broadway. At that time, he gave me the permission to do any of his plays in Atlanta at the Alliance, even when they were still running on Broadway. We started a friendship and a partnership over those years. Every year he would come down to Atlanta to work on his new plays. Then, when I started True Colors Theatre Company in 2002, he came and FENCES was actually the first production to kick off the Company Back then. Later, he asked me to come act in GEM OF THE OCEAN - which was his ninth Broadway show and I created the role of Citizen Barlow in that play. About a year later, he called me and asked me to take over direction of that play. I took over the play in Boston, directed it in Boston and brought it into New York. We cut about an hour and a half out of the show. We had a great time working together. Even before we opened GEM OF THE OCEAN in New York, he said, "Look, I want you to do the last one," which was the tenth play, RADIO GOLF. After four or five months working on that play he found out that he had the inoperable cancer. So, we finished that play and pretty soon thereafter he passed away. Then, I went on to the Kennedy Center and, in a tribute to him, I did all ten of his plays. To honor him. So, this revival of FENCES is something we had talked about and was something we were looking forward to. I get the opportunity to do it with an amazing cast. I think because I have done all ten plays, and this play a number of times, I had a very clear idea about how I wanted it to look and how I wanted it to feel and what I wanted to do with the transitions. Many people who produce this play always have, you know, End of Act One, Scene One, Lights Down, Scene Two, Lights Down. Lights up, Lights Down. I wanted it to keep moving. I wanted there to be life in the transitions. Therefore, I asked Santo to expand on the kitchen, to expand on the inner life of this house so that I can have the characters go inside and do what they would do in a real situation. So, by Santo Loquasto enlarging the interior of the house I could have movement in the house while I was still playing exteriors in the yard. Then, I needed Branford Marsalis to create some music that had never been done before to go with those transitions so I could keep those transitions alive. That was a beautiful thing. Then, Brian, who worked the lights to go with music and the scenery for those transitions. It was some of the best work I've ever had the opportunity to do. And with Constanza, the keeper of the estate and his wife. When I first met her, she was just this great designer. There was no other person who was right to do the clothes for this show but Constanza. So, I feel like the ten nominations for the Tonys are sort of justified because it has been a collaborative event. From the casting to the designers of it; I feel like everything we have been winning with this production is because of the collaborative nature of it.

Brian MacDevitt: I'm really happy and proud of the production as a whole because I think it's one of the special times in theatre when the collaboration is true and it works. I think that is due to the honesty and heart of the work. First of all, the play and how all The Players involved - through Kenny's guidance - found a way to meld all our different talents into making something bigger and more beautiful than any one individual could do.

Branford Marsalis: The music that I wrote for FENCES is twenty-five years of musical experience. When I was writing the music, because it happened to quickly, I think it was Kenny Leon as the director who wanted me to do it. People were saying, "Who? Oh, come on. Not him!" I've known Kenny for years. We met eight years ago [on the Harlem Globetrotters musical, never produced]. My manager called me in February and said they had gotten a call from Scott Rudin's office. When I called the office they said "Kenny Leon wanted to speak with you," and I said, "Shoot, he could have called me!" So, I talked to Kenny and Kenny said, "I want you to write the music for this play. I've been a fan of his and I'm a super-fan of August Wilson's plays so I said, "I'm in!" A lot of the Broadway models in place go with pre-existing music; everything is done synthetically. Because this is August Wilson I fought for acoustic music. I said, "This is the music that inspired August, we have to do it justice."

Nevin Steinberg: I also think Kenny put a premium on these actors being heard and these words being heard by the audience and creating a connection from the actor, not technology. That makes a big difference. It makes The Acting Company aware that they are the ones connecting with the audience through sound. All of the work really reflects back on the director, not us. Kenny has done a great job. He was incredibly inclusive. He collaborated with us on everything.

Branford Marsalis: Nevin Steinberg and I established a really strong relationship from the very beginning. It was clear that everything that had to be done - in the music - was being done to make the play better. Everything was collaborative.

Santo Loquasto: Constanza came to the apartment with Kenny and when I showed them the painted model she was great. She was incredibly enthusiastic. More vocal than Kenny even at the start.

Constanza Romero: For me, his writing has so many images that a designer can hold on to. Take off. The costumes just flowed from the page. I was really excited. I was also excited because I got to show my costume sketches to August and Lloyd Richards [on their first production together, THE PIANO LESSON]. The first production of one of August's plays I saw was JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE with Charles S. Dutton. What I was most struck with was the combination of history with August's plays. I hadn't even thought of the displacement of black families since the civil war, since slavery, I mean I had known about it but I didn't know the toll it had taken on black families. I hadn't even known about Joe Turner who, you know, captures the main character and makes him work in his property and what that caused in his family's history. So, I think that I was mostly really moved that August had taken events in history and placed them so dramatically - and so movingly - onstage.

Branford Marsalis: I got to talk to my great-grandmother and my great-grandfather before they died... The combination between Jim Crow and post-slavery and all of those things is that black Southerners who grew up during that time were always fearful of one of their family members could sold or could be killed, so they grew up with an emotional stoicism where they never let themselves become too attached to one thing or one person for fear that they would lose iT. Troy was born in 1904 which is right when virtually everyone who survived the civil war was very much alive and the memories were fresh.

Kenny Leon: We're making FENCES fresh for a new generation. A lot of folks weren't around in ‘86 or ‘87. You have thirty-year-olds who, you know, this is a world premiere to them. What does a world premiere of FENCES look like today? So, I was intent on not even thinking of another production. Not a production I had seen or a production I had done or any in the past. What does it look like if you put Viola Davis and Denzel Washington on stage and you have them do this story and we‘re doing it in 2010. I think it's a sexier show, I think it's a funnier show, I think it moves a lot faster for today's audiences. I'm always looking at what makes it fresh for now. When you're doing a Tennessee Williams play, you ask, "What makes it relevant now? What makes the poetry sing? What makes you hear the rhythm of the writer?" The entire time I'm working on an August Wilson play I can hear him in my ear, saying, "Just make sure, Kenny, make sure you deliver the truth. Go for truth." I think when audiences come to see FENCES on Broadway they see a play that is truthful, authentic and specific and if you do it correctly then it will have meaning for their lives. Every night I walk into that theater and I see the most diverse audience on Broadway. I see the audience that looks more like America than any Broadway audience and it makes me proud.

Brian MacDevitt: I think Santo is a designer whose designs... his work makes the lighting very easy. I gotta tell you, when I came in and saw [the set] and we were just putting some lights up there, I asked my assistant, "What is that beautiful light down right? What is doing that?" and he said, "It's the worklight." Because the set has the nature to it to radiate the light and soak up the light and reflect it. It's like a character. It's to make the people make the people beautiful in the light. It would be really hard for people not to look good the way he has designed it and painted it and the textures... Actually, there was a night when the work light did get left on but nobody noticed it because, until the first transition, we didn't know it was on. It blended in so beautifully with the rest of the production. It didn't stand out. The set absorbed it.

Santo Loquasto: Without Brian, I'm nothing. (Laughs.)

Brian MacDevitt: We talked a lot about the truth and honesty of the piece. Like Santo's set, I wanted to create a beauty in something that was rugged and hard and had an edge to it. The Troy character in the world is real and rugged and beautiful. And angry. He's an angry guy for good reason. And also there's a lot of depth and beauty in the human quality of it. But, for me, I don't do shows without wondering what role nature can play in it. What's nature's role in this place? Especially the initial scene, which takes place on a Friday afternoon after work, and you have a sense of this beautiful sunlight streaming in. You make beauty out of something that can be fairly rugged. It's a great way to set the audience up to meet this people and love these people. You know, Troy and everyone in the backyard in the initial scene, you see them in this beautiful light and it's fun and light and what they're talking about is engaging and uplifting. And also very sexy. I thought it should have a sexy look and feel.

Branford Marsalis: One of the things that I learned how to do as I started to get into my upper-thirties, I learned how to harness the power of the music. Music can move you beyond the words. When we were working on FENCES, of course I read the play but it wasn't until I saw the actors in rehearsal - Denzel and Viola and Russell, all the guys - and I got to feel the heat from six feet from where I was sitting. There were a couple of times in the rehearsals I started to cry. The dialogue, and how they delivered it... I wrote notes about how it felt to me how they were feeling the piece. For instance, in Act One when Troy talks about how unfairly society has treated him. The inclination when you read that is to write angry music, like he was really pissed off. When I finally was watching it, it was clear that he was disappointed and he was masking it with anger. I ignore the anger and I get to the central core of the emotion which was he was disappointed and he was saddened. What was he really trying to say? Troy was saying he was hurt and disappointed.

Constanza Romero: Romere Beardin was a brilliant artist and I think August looking at Beardin's work was a lot like the way August wrote because Beardin was a collagist. He would cut out pieces of colored paper or pieces of magazine faces and different color hands, and so forth, and he would make beautiful collages. August worked in a very similar way. He would collect something that he wrote here. He could collect something that he heard there. He would collect something that he saw. You know, he didn't know what the end result would be when he first started writing. You know, it wasn't like he set out to write, or said, "I'm gonna write about... A garbage man!" He let the process lead him where he was going. It would all reveal itself.

 

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