Fences playwriting review

I will say upfront that I felt that the Seattle Rep production of Fences was faithful to my perception of the script. They did a very good job with it. That said, I did have a couple of quibbles.

The first was the actor playing Cory. I felt that for the most part, he did a good job with the role. Cory's character, to me, is definitely the whiny type, and I think the actor did a fine job representing that. However, I had issues with his portrayal in the final scene. To me, it seemed like he was being far too stoic around his family. I understand, Cory is supposed to have been in the Marines for all this time, so perhaps he is a little emotionally hardened by his experiences. Still, I didn't like the fact that he faced out to the audience the whole time that Rose spoke to him. I sorta see now how he was trying to stick to the theme of the play--putting up a metaphorical fence to keep some things in and other things out of himself. But I think he took it too far. Sure, have Cory be distant, but I think he's at least a little happy to see his family.

In the same scene, I felt like Gabriel's "howl" was unsatisfying. What I got from reading the script was that the end of the play was supposed to be cacophonous. Instead, it felt limp. I think it would have been a lot more interesting to give Gabriel a boost on the tech side of the show--maybe play with the sound design a little bit. I guess the risk with that would be that it would make his performance maybe a little less genuine, but I think it could have used a little more to add to the spectacle.

Otherwise, I thought all the performances were very good. Bono did well being a reliable but questioning friend to Troy. Rose did well being a loving wife to Troy, and her grief at his revelation felt believable. I think the actor playing Lyons did a good job of making his portrayal likable but slightly shady. And Troy, of course, was great. His anger and sweeping emotions came across very well.