I actually got to see this play in high school because it was playing in Chicago and I remember really, really enjoying it. I also remember spacing out a good bit- probably due to the fact that most of the play is Troy talking and talking and talking and not really doing anything. I am interested to see how inherent structure will be dealt with in the upcoming production in Seattle.
I think its interesting that pretty much this entire play is set in the same location: the yard. The yard is almost like the audience that way, the constant observer. Thus a relationship forms between the audience and the setting. What does this buy, having the audience relate to the setting?
When I was reading this play I tried to pay special attention to the devices Wilson used to write a successful play. Because this play is focused on one character's interactions with multiple other characters, the different characters provide the audience various dimensions of Troy i.e. brother, father, wife. Common ideas that pop up in all of Troy's relationships point to more essential and unable to suppress issues that Troy has i.e. money, baseball. These interactions also show the audience the most, provide the most information. Not only do Troy's lengthy rants, his fights with his wife or his son, show us Troy's concerns about life, they allow us to understand why he possesses the sets of values and priorities he currently does. It provides us with a history of Troy's family and a history of his development into where he is today because he often talks about his own father or his own experiences with baseball or the white man. Thus the plot is this man's development.
But this can work both ways, the action in this play is then the way Troy's manifestations of his issues affect the other characters and drive them to their actions. However this play seems to be more a discussion of actions than actual action on stage.
I think part of what makes this a successful play are the symbols and extended metaphors. It gives the audience something to follow throughout the play, not to mention the very title of the play "Fences" alerts the audience from the beginning that symbols are integral to understanding the various levels of the play. The way baseball connects ideas and Troy's various regrets/issues (money, racism, family etc) also gives the audience something to hold on to or grasp throughout the play. I think these techniques are very useful.
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Ooo, I love the idea of audience relating to setting. What does that buy them (us)? That said, I'm not sure I feel the yard is an observer so much as I feel that I'm in the yard too. He builds a fence, but I'm on the inside.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that there's really no plot here. Just history and character development and watching it all play out. It's key indeed to figure out where this is boring and where/how it manages to sustain your attention despite so little action. Some of it is the different men Troy is with different people. Some is the brilliant sustained symbolism and metaphor. Some is watching this one man's story play out and watching him tell it. We'll know more when we see it. And it will be interesting to contrast your performance experiences -- does your mind wander in the same spots?
I'm super jealous about your Chicago theater experiences. Bless the hearts of my local Idaho theater companies, but if I see/am in/light one more production of the Christmas Carol I am going to choke a tiny tim. And not feel remorse. Take that ghost of christmas future, where does your sentimentalism get you now?!
ReplyDeleteAhem, chocking aside, you have a really good point that because this play isn't about action or plot, it's instead about "Troy's manifestations of his issues." This explains the use of symbols, as Troy's life needs to manifest on stage somehow, and it's not through plot. Hence, symbology. Also, the sincerity and earnestness of Troy and others. All good tools. However, I think it's probably possible to make a character driven play that doesn't have this sort of emotional earnesty, or symbolic dependence. Might be a good challenge, though ultimately I think if you have a character driven play not based in sincerity, the interest for the audience will be imagining what the characters would earnestly say.
I also think it fascinating the way that Wilson almost traps the audience in the set. We are, in a sense, "fenced" in, aren't we? On the other hand, the fact that we are fenced in by the set forces us to pay attention to what's being said, akin to the way Greek masks in Greek tragedy force us to create expression from the mask. In a sense, I think that's what makes writing stationary(in terms of physical space or even character expression when considering Greek tragedy) plays like this so difficult. However, I think the result almost ends up better than if we were to just move the set all around.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting things about this play is that, although we seemingly only get one character's perspective, we actually get much more than that. We don't really identify with Troy(at least I didn't, my common exclamation while reading this play was " I hate him so much") but yet we can't deny he is the main character. We get hints of what Rose and Cory and Gabe and Lyons want, but not enough. Maybe having a completely flawed main character, then, makes the play a better one, in which we have to pay attention to discern truth from lies.
"However this play seems to be more a discussion of actions than actual action on stage"
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this. I know we talked about in class how the show is definitely a character driven show with little to no plot. I like that you mentioned that they talk ABOUT actions the whole show, because that is definitely what seems to happen. Troy is constantly telling stories and talking about things he has done in the past, which is extremely telling about his character. He lives in his "glory days" of playing baseball, and yet he cannot live in his present or face his current state of being.
I liked your discussion of the setting as a player in the story. The yard definitely has a character of its own, and it seems to change depending on which people are on the stage. I also think it's a really interesting relationship, the setting and the characters, and how each one relates to the yard and the house. Something that could definitely be explored more when staging.