The Ensemble Theatre presents Fences (Staged Reading)

Directed by Rachel Hemphill Dickson

Set in 1950’s Pittsburgh, Fences tells the story of Troy Maxson, a restless trash-collector and former baseball athlete who is struggling to provide for his family. In this the powerful and dramatically compelling work that won August Wilson the 1987 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award, Troy Maxson is a strong man, yet hardened by life in an America where to be proud and black was to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s. It’ a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can…a spirit that is making him stranger, angry, and afraid in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understand less and less.

The Ensemble Theatre celebrates the 70th Birthday and 10 year anniversary of the passing of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson with staged readings of his American Century cycle recognized for chronicling the spirit of African American life through the 20th Century. The theatre will host one staged reading per month October 19, 2015 – July 18, 2016.

The Ensemble Theatre is funded by a grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.