August Wilson's Fences Review: a searing, domestic account on the Black American experience
16 September 2026 | 19:15 | Leeds Playhouse - Courtyard (UK Tour)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | PR - Invite
As one of the 20th-century American greats in literature, we see surprisingly few major productions of August Wilson's work. So it is a privilege to see Fences return, presented by Headlong and opening tonight in Leeds Playhouse's Courtyard space. Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the Maxson family build a wooden fence around their backyard, symbolising the emotional walls that keep others out, and trap their own pains inside.
Working-class sanitation worker Troy Maxson is the patriarch, who struggles to provide for his family. Years prior to the play, he was a baseball player denied the chance to play the major leagues due to the colour of his skin. His son Corey Maxson has a promising future in football, except generation trauma comes to haunt the family, as Troy's resentment to his own sporting past causes a bitter father-son conflict. And then we have Rose Maxson, his devoted wife who is desperately trying to hold everyone together.
We must start in giving credit to casting director Heather Basten CDG and director Daniel Bailey. So many times this evening I forgot that I was in a theatre environment, where each character is refined and painfully real. Like a window into an oppressive 50s America on the cusp of the Civil Rights movement.
As Troy Maxson, Ray Fearon gives one of the most established dramatic performances I have seen in a long time. The role is written for an actor with mighty presence, and Fearon never once lets the ball drop on a proud man who withholds his affections. His transactional duty as a father comes before anything else, as Josh Tedeku's Cory counters him with his respectable nature. Troy tells his son 'I ain't got to like you' in a powerful speech, emotionally disassociating where he sees too much of himself in him.
Virtually the entire of the play takes place in the Maxson's backyard, as Lily Arnold's picturesque design places a detached house in the centre of a wooden ring fence. Audiences mostly see their porch, where its genuinity is enhanced by Jai Morjaria's lighting design, subtly shifting in time of day and atmosphere together with Khalil Madovi's gentle natural soundscape. On occasion, the house revolves to expose a hollowed inside. There is a staircase and basic furnishings, but there remains an emptiness like a doll's house, as Troy manipulates the lives of those inside.
Madeline Appiah breaks the audience's hearts as Rose Maxson, the moral anchor and grounding wife to Troy. Appiah's performance is so singularly confident, and really utilises Rose's quiet endurance to exceed Troy's expectations of being his wife. Though amidst the tragedy, she is a a beacon that lights up the stage in kinder, more comedic scenes, bringing maternal warmth to her children.
The same lightness comes from Everal A Walsh's Bono, a good-willed friend of the family and the only one of Troy's relationship that isn't torn apart. Perhaps as he doesn't hold any dominance over Bono, a former prison friend, rather than being born of or related to him. Supporting the performance includes Simon-Anthony Rhoden (Gabriel) who opens the show with a musical number Judgment Day, setting a warning on the events to come. As well as Michael Ahomka-Lindsay's artistically driven Lyons, and young performer Aita Mushuku as Raynell, defined by her no-nonsense attitude and kindly bond with Cory in the final act.
It isn't the first time that Headlong and Leeds Playhouse have collaborated on an August Wilson play, most recently seen in 2022 with their production of Jitney, which later ran at London's Old Vic Theatre. I last saw Daniel Bailey direct Hit Machine which I'd also given 5*, as Bailey fast becomes one of my favourite contemporary directors. Three hours of an aching human account on the Black American experience, as Fences takes on the modern domestic tragedy. I hadn't seen a Wilson play before, but now I want to see them all!
Fences plays at Leeds Playhouse until the 26th September, before touring to Oxford Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith (London), Home Manchester and Nottingham Playhouse:
Leeds Playhouse Tickets & More: https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
