Fences - Lessons Learned from the Play

This is a legendary play, and for good reason. Recently made (even more) famous as a movie starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.

Very notable to us because the play is the depiction of a tragic male hero. Someone who can't help but get in their own way. Someone who falls prey to the complications of life and marriage and fatherhood. 

Great exploration of money, fatherhood, marriage, society and maybe most importantly - - DEATH. Also incredible and engaging dialogue. It's also interesting how the main character is so well drawn, in no small part thanks to the way people treat and perceive him.

Written by August Wilson 

Alright. As usual, this is just going to be scattered thoughts, but I think this play had some really teachable stuff.

1) We meet TROY telling a story, and his friend is hanging on his every word. That's a really compelling way to meet someone. We understand that Troy is liked and respected, so we like and respect him (even when he makes questionable choices later on). 
2) The play creates REAL DRAMA. It creates difficult situations (Troy made another woman pregnant) and manipulates those situations brilliantly to maximize their weight and poignancy (the other woman dies during child birth, so Rose raises the kid).
3) The play is HONEST. There's so much maturity in the writing, and every character is clearly rooted in their own well-thought-out perspective. The way FENCES deals with marriage feels so raw and carefully drawn. For these characters, they put everything into their marriage. They buried their hopes and dreams in marriage, and in each other. When things don't turn out perfect, that breeds RESENTMENT, and this play explores a lot of that resentment. *Resentment is a common theme in literally all of the great dramatic work we read.
4) These characters also each have their own WHAT IFS. That's another big component in all the great stuff we read. The characters are people who are aware of the paths they didn't take in favor of the life they chose. They know what they're giving up, and they carry that with them. That theme rings true with everyone, and it goes hand in hand with resentment. That's probably why plays like these have such massive appeal. 
5) In a lot of ways, this is a play where you watch characters deal with OLD RESENTMENT while simultaneously sowing the seeds for NEW RESENTMENTS. Those new resentments that are created in real time are similarly fascinating. Cory being forced to give up football and his overall relationship with Troy is a great example of this.
6) RICH CHARACTERS: 
--Troy is the leader.
--Rose is his strong, noble wife. 
--Bono is his friend who follows him.
--Lyons is his mooching, artsy son. Clearly chose a life nothing like Troy's. 
--Cory is his defiant teenage son. Fighting not to be like Troy, but is more similar to him. 
--Gabriel is his brain-damaged brother who is obsessed with heaven. 
7) MASCULINITY is explored in an interesting way in this play. Troy came from a shitty dad. He doesn't claim to have been a perfect dad. But he did learn responsibility from his dad, so that's all he carries with him to his own family. WE ALL ARE A PRODUCT OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS, AND WHATEVER WE GREW UP WITH. This play hammers that idea home with the parallel characters of Troy and his dad and his son Cory. 
8) DRINKING was also explored in a really interesting way. It's not like anyone was freaking out about it. Someone accused Troy of drinking too much, he shrugged it off, and he was basically always drinking after that point. In the end, he's called out for it more forcefully, but this thread of alcoholism is perfectly measured. It creates tension in the play, but never consumes it. 
9) DIALOGUE: One of the best parts of this dialogue is that it always keeps moving. When someone delivers crazy news ("Angela died in child birth," for instance) the story doesn't slow to a halt so we can see Troy process it. He quickly accepts it - - he will eventually anyways -- without having to ask a million questions or freak out first. Then once that plot point is accepted, it can be built upon, so Wilson doesn't spend too long building moments like that out. He gets back to what's pertinent - - the drama between these characters - - without getting bogged down, and that's great.