Directed By Brian Daye
This production has been made possible through the generous support from the Margaret C. Woodson Foundation.
February 4,5,6 at 7pm & February 7 at 2pm
Set in segregated Pittsburgh in the 1950s, “Fences” depicts the life of Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball star now scraping by as a sanitation worker.
A towering figure facing thwarted aspirations, Troy attempts to assert control in his life through his relationships with his wife and son. But even as he takes responsibility for their safety and well-being, he betrays them each in ways that will forever alter their lives. Part of August Wilson’s 10-play Century Cycle, “Fences” explores the walls we build around ourselves and our loved ones, while also illuminating one family’s struggles in a racist society. Winner of the 1987 Pulitizer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play.
Cast
Tim Bradley is an exciting and versatile actor and singer. He has gained local and national acclaim as a singer and performer. Tim has performed on stage alongside award winning artist of various genres. He has held leading roles in several stage plays such as “A Change Is Gonna Come”, “A Walk In My Shoes”, “Come Sunday”, “Unfinished Women Cry in No Man’s Land While a Bird Dies in A Gilded Cage”, “The Bluest Eye” August Wilson’s “Jitney”, and “Two Trains Running”, “Purlie”, and “Boys To Baghdad” with BNS Productions. He’s played leading roles in the musicals “Ain’t Misbehavin” and “For the Love of Harlem”. Tim expanded to film work with “The Confessions” by Michael Landon Jr., “Athena: Goddess of War”, “Familiar Eyes”, and “Innocent Victims”. He is a native of South Carolina and a graduate of South Carolina State University.
Hadassah McGill is no stranger to this stage as she is thrilled to be making her second appearance at the Lee Street Theater coming from Charlotte, NC. Hadassah has had the pleasure to transform her abilities in several theatrical productions including Blood Done Sign My Name, A Raisin in the Sun, The Wiz, Hidden Voice’s Speak, No Justice-No Peace, Shakespeare in the Park, and several Improv comedy troupes. She has also featured in a couple of award-winning short films including “Robots Don’t Have Feeling’s” and “#TrollGoals”. Hadassah looks forward to advancing her acting career into the film industry as she learns and continues to grow in her craft. She is eternally grateful to her mentor and incredible Director, Mr. Brian Daye For believing in her gifts and blessing her with this opportunity to shine a light on the works of August Wilson, and also Mr. Rod Oden for his continued support and allowing her to grace this stage yet again. She would also like to thank her family, friends, her cast mates, and her boyfriend, Ryan for believing in her. Hadassah would love to honor her late Mother, Stephanie McGill, who is her biggest inspiration and her stepmother Angela Hickman who continues to offer her loving support and wisdom helping her grow as a woman. Hadassah would love to pay tribute to and offer this performance of FENCES to her Father, Britton McGill. Thank you for seeing my passion and supporting me beyond my academics. Love you all. Enjoy the show!
Roderick Shephard is an actor, writer, director and producer of three short films. His most recent theatre work was in The Colored Museum and COTO Chocolate On The Outside. He is excited to return to the theatre after a few years’ break. Rod would like to thank Brian Daye for making the call that made his return possible. He would also like to thank the cast and crew of this amazing play for their commitment, hard work and determination to make our show the best it can possibly be. And finally, a huge “Thank You” to my family for allowing me to play. It means the world. Ricco Tinnin Lyons Ricco Tinnin has been a striving actor and model for almost a decade. He has worked on countless of projects all across the country. He wants to dedicate this performance to his Son Kynis Tinnin who he adores dearly. And also to his late Nephew Stephon Lane. We all push to be great, so let’s just be it. He loves you all.
Justin Sean Davis, who plays Gabriel, returns for his fourth performance at the Lee Street Theatre in the production of August Wilson’s award-winning play, “Fences.” Other performances at Lee Street include playing Benjamin Coffin III for Rent, which was done in conjunction with Catawba College; Carl Lee Hailey in “A Time to Kill;” and Harpo in The Color Purple. He’s also had supporting roles in Look Homeward Angel and You Can’t Take it With You with the Piedmont Players. Justin Sean, a Salisbury native, was a theatre major at Western Carolina University. There, he performed lead roles as 20/20 Mike in Riff Raff and a dual role of Junie and Miss Roj in The Colored Museum. When he’s not on the stage, he serves as the Head Track & Field coach at Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., and he would like to
thank his wife, Lakeshia, and newborn son, Nolan, for supporting his dream of brightening people’s lives through the magic of theatre.
Raynell Maxon: Seven-Hazel Boone is a native of Salisbury, North Carolina who loves to entertain. As a member of Triple Threat Dance Company, Central Carolina Gymnastics, and a Black Belt in Dillingham Martial Arts, Seven is frequently in motion and on a competitive stage. On the theatre stage, she had a debut appearance in The Wiz at Salisbury's Meroney Theatre as a munchkin and police mouse; and as a member of New Hope AME Zion Church, she is casted frequently in youth programs and activities. This loving 12 year old, seventh grader at Gray Stone Day School is new to Lee Street Theatre. Welcome Seven-Hazel!
Hi my name is Micah Contee I have performed in many productions such as The Wiz, Sankofa, Pirates Of Penzance, Three Musketeers Etc a little about myself I enjoy doing theater and being able to express myself and I love having fun when I do and being in this amazing production of Fences. I would like to thank my amazing Mother for being there for me always. Let’s do this y’all
Production Staff
Brian Daye
Rod Oden
Melissa Tarduno
About the Author August Wilson
August Wilson (April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of the descendants of Africans in North America, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century, forming the complication entitled THE AMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE. His plays have been produced on Broadway, at regional theaters across the country and all over the world. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned, currently touring and featuring Eugene Lee reprising Mr. Wilson's role. Mr. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, and Jitney. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson.
Mr. Wilson’s early works included the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming, and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by President Bill Clinton, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street - The August Wilson Theatre.
Today, his plays continue to be produced, and his place in the American Theatre continues to grow. New York Public Radio recorded all ten plays in the THE AMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE at the Greene Space, casting many of the actors that worked on the original productions. PBS aired a documentary on Mr. Wilson entitled, The Ground On Which I Stand, as part of the American Masters series. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero, who is the executor of his estate.
Reviews
"One of the great characters in American drama. One of the richest experiences I have ever had in the theatre. I wasn't just moved. I was transfixed." - New York Post
"A blockbuster and a major American play." - New York Daily News