[NEohioPAL] Fences - Auditions

[Marc Howard via NEohioPAL]

*Fences*

By August Wilson

Winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Winner of the 1987 Tony for Best Play
Michael Oatman, Director
Marc C. Howard, Producer



AUDITIONS: 7 pm JULY 24 & 25

115 E. Pioneer Trail,
Aurora, OH 44202

*What to Prepare*

Please bring a resume and headshot, along with a 2-3-minute prepared
dramatic monologue.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals will begin in November 27th.  Please bring a list of your
conflicts to auditions.

Performances

8 pm FRI & SAT Jan 26 - Feb 17, 2018


Additional Information

*CONTACT:* Director Michael Oatman at mikeoatman at hotmail.com

*All roles are available*

*Troy Maxson *-  The protagonist of *Fences,* a fifty-three-year-old,
African American man who works for the sanitation department, lifting
garbage into trucks. Troy is also a former baseball star in the Negro
Leagues. Troy's athletic ability diminished before the Major Leagues
accepted blacks. Hard-working, strong and prone to telling compelling,
fanciful stories and twisting the truth, Troy is the family breadwinner and
plays the dominant role in his over thirty-year friendship with fellow
sanitation worker, Jim Bono. Troy's character is the centerpiece that all
of the other relationships in *Fences* gather around. Troy is husband to
Rose, father to Lyons, Cory, and Raynell, and brother to Gabriel. Troy is a
tragic-hero who has excessive pride for his breadwinning role. Troy's years
of hard-work for only meager progress depress him. Troy often fails to
provide the love and support that would mean the most to his loved ones.


*Cory Maxson *-  The teenage son of Troy and Rose Maxson. A senior in high
school, Cory gets good grades and college recruiters are coming to see him
play football. Cory is a respectful son, compassionate nephew to his
disabled Uncle Gabriel, and generally, a giving and enthusiastic person. An
ambitious young man who has the talent and determination to realize his
dreams, Cory comes of age during the play when he challenges and confronts
Troy and leaves home. Cory comes home from the Marines in the final scene
of the play, attempting to defy Troy by refusing to go to his funeral, but
Cory changes his mind after sharing memories of his father with Rose and
Raynell.


*Rose Maxson *-  Troy's wife and mother of his second child, Cory. Rose is
a forty-three-year-old African American housewife who volunteers at her
church regularly and loves her family. Rose's request that Troy and Cory
build a fence in their small, dirt backyard comes to represent her desire
to keep her loved-ones close to her love. Unlike Troy, Rose is a realist,
not a romantic longing for the by- gone days of yore. She has high hopes
for her son, Cory and sides with him in his wish to play football. Rose's
acceptance of Troy's illegitimate daughter, Raynell, as her own child,
exemplifies her compassion.


*Gabriel Maxson *-  Troy's brother. Gabriel was a soldier in the Second
World War, during which he received a head injury that required a metal
plate to be surgically implanted into his head. Because of the physical
damage and his service, Gabriel receives checks from the government that
Troy used in part to buy the Maxson's home where the play takes place.
Gabriel wanders around the Maxson family's neighborhood carrying a basket
and singing. He often thinks he is not a person, but the angel Gabriel who
opens the gates of heaven with his trumpet for Saint Peter on Judgment Day.
Gabriel exudes a child-like exuberance and a need to please.



*Jim Bono *-  Troy's best friend of over thirty years. Jim Bono is usually
called "Bono" or "Mr. Bono" by the characters in *Fences.* Bono and Troy
met in jail, where Troy learned to play baseball. Troy is a role model to
Bono. Bono is the only character in *Fences* who remembers, first-hand,
Troy's glory days of hitting homeruns in the Negro Leagues. Less
controversial than Troy, Bono admires Troy's leadership and responsibility
at work. Bono spends every Friday after work drinking beers and telling
stories with Troy in the Maxson family's backyard. He is married to a woman
named Lucille, who is friends with Rose. Bono is a devoted husband and
friend. Bono's concern for Troy's marriage takes precedent over his loyalty
to their friendship.



*Lyons Maxson *-  Troy's son, fathered before Troy's time in jail with a
woman Troy met before Troy became a baseball player and before he met Rose.
Lyons is an ambitious and talented jazz musician. He grew up without Troy
for much of his childhood because Troy was in prison. Lyons, like most
musicians, has a hard time making a living. For income, Lyons mostly
depends on his girlfriend, Bonnie whom we never see on stage. Lyons does
not live with Troy, Rose and Cory, but comes by the Maxson house frequently
on Troy's payday to ask for money. Lyons, like Rose, plays the numbers, or
local lottery. Their activity in the numbers game represents Rose and
Lyons' belief in gambling for a better future. Lyons' jazz playing appears
to Troy as an unconventional and foolish occupation. Troy calls jazz,
"Chinese music," because he perceives the music as foreign and impractical.
Lyons' humanity and belief in himself garners respect from others.


*Raynell Maxson *-  Troy's illegitimate child, mothered by Alberta, his
lover. August Wilson introduces Raynell to the play as an infant. Her
innocent need for care and support convinces Rose to take Troy back into
the house. Later, Raynell plants seeds in the once barren dirt yard.
Raynell is the only Maxson child that will live with few scars from Troy
and is emblematic of new hope for the future and the positive values
parents and older generations pass on to their young.
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