Playbill for Fences (1987)

Playbill for Fences (1987)

AP African American Studies Guide

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Topic 4.18

The Playbill for the play Fences by August Wilson (1987)

The cover of the Playbill for Fences. A yellow box at the top says "Playbill 46th Street Theatre." The graphic below shows the title of the play, Fences, with a young Black man in a football uniform on the right and an older Black man on the left, looking across at the younger man with his hands on his hips.


Source: Playbill for the play Fences, by the playwright August Wilson, 1987 (Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Used with Permission. All rights reserved, Playbill Inc.)

Part of August Wilson’s ten-play American Century Cycle, Fences premiered at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre) on March 26, 1987. The production ran for 525 performances and won Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Direction of a Play (Lloyd Richards), Best Actor in a Play (James Earl Jones), and Best Featured Actress in a Play (Mary Alice), along with the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Learn more about Fences, and the American Century Cycle, on the August Wilson Cultural Center website, and view the full Playbill for Fences on the Smithsonian website.