Fences, written by August Wilson
This sensational drama tells the story of Troy Maxson, a former star of the Negro baseball leagues who now works as a garbage man in 1957 Pittsburgh. Excluded as a black man from the major leagues during his prime, Troy's bitterness takes its toll on his relationships with his wife and his son, who now wants his own chance to play ball. In the powerful, stunning dramatic work that won August Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize, Troy has gone through life in a country where being proud and black meant facing pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950's are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960's. It's a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.

AUDITION INFORMATION:

Sunday, December 15 at 7:00 pm
Monday, December 16 at 7:00 pm
All roles are open for Pearland Theatre Guild's upcoming production of Fences. Auditions will be held at the Pearl Theater at 14803 Park Almeda, Houston, TX 77047. Auditioners are asked to read cold from the script which will be provided at the audition.

SHOW INFORMATION:

RUNS January 31 - February 16.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:

• Troy Maxson: A large man in his mid-fifties who wants to match the power & strength his physical size suggests, but who he feels has been blocked by the white community all his life. A martyr, a breadwinner, & a rough poet. Proud, exhausted, & angry, he refuses to acknowledge a changing world.
• Jim Bono: Troy's closest friend. They met in prison and spent 15 years together locked up together. Troy has been the leader whom Bono has willingly followed. He tries to imitate the strength Troy shows & the honest, hard work he preaches. Frank & moral.
• Rose: Troy's second wife, who he married after being released from prison. Maternal, practical, patient, & forgiving. Rose almost always pushes her own priorities aside for others'. Powerful underneath and determined to hold her family together. Troy maintains an affectionate patriarchal relationship with Rose, demanding respect from her as the head of the household, though he is greatly influenced by her realistic take on the changing world. Rose is the mother of Cory, Troy's youngest son.
• Cory: Cory is the son of Troy and Rose, recruited to play college football. Bright & responsible, he believes he has a chance for success & happiness in life. Cory has a relationship of conflict and violence with Troy. He desperately wants his father to be proud of him, but he does not wish to become like him.
• Lyons: Troy's eldest son from a previous marriage. He is in his mid 30s. Obsessed with his image. Lyons works as a jazz musician in Pittsburgh but often has a hard time making ends meet. Lyons often appears on Fridays, Troy's payday, to ask for money. Troy's complicated relationship with Lyons encompasses his admiration for his son's attempt to do something he loves with his life, but contempt for his refusal to be a breadwinner and responsible head of household.
• Gabriel: Gabriel, or Gabe, is Troy's brother. He suffered a traumatic head injury in World War II that left a metal plate in his head. Because of his diminished mental capacity, he acts in a childlike manner and believes that he is the Angel Gabriel, waiting for St. Peter to open the gates of Heaven for all of the saved. A singer & storyteller who is eager to please.
• Raynell: Age 7-8. Raynell is Troy's daughter, fathered out of wedlock with Alberta, Troy's mistress. Alberta dies in childbirth and leaves Troy to raise Raynell. Rose agrees to raise his husband's daughter for her sake, not for his.