Fences is a 1985 play by American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Like all of the "Pittsburgh" plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes. The play won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play. Fences was first developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's 1983 National Playwrights Conference and premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1985.
The Curran Theatre, located at 445 Geary Street between Taylor and Mason Streets in the Theatre District of San Francisco, California opened in February 1922, and was named after its first owner, Homer Curran. As of 2014, the theater is owned by Carole Shorenstein Hays.
Mary Alice Smith (December 3, 1936 – July 27, 2022), known professionally as Mary Alice, was an American television, film, and stage actress. Alice was known for her roles as Leticia "Lettie" Bostic on the sitcom A Different World (1987–1989) and Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama Sparkle, and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her recurring role on the series I'll Fly Away. Alice also performed on the stage, and received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her appearance in the 1987 production of August Wilson's Fences.
Cherry Jones is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, three Drama Desk Awards and two Obie Awards. She also received a Laurence Olivier Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is located at a theater complex called the Mead Center for American Theater. The theater's Artistic Director is Molly Smith and the Executive Producer is Edgar Dobie. It is the largest company in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Arena Stage commissions and develops new plays through its Power Plays initiative. The company now serves an annual audience of more than 300,000. Its productions have received numerous local and national awards, including the Tony Award for best regional theater and over 600 Helen Hayes Awards.
Jitney is a play by American playwright August Wilson. The eighth in his "Pittsburgh Cycle", this play is set in a worn-down gypsy cab station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in early autumn 1977. The play premiered on Broadway in 2017.
Stephen McKinley Henderson is an American actor. He is known primarily for his work onstage, notably in several of August Wilson's plays. He has made several appearances in film and television, including notable roles in biographical drama Lincoln (2012), coming-of-age film Lady Bird (2017), science fiction miniseries Devs (2020), and Mentat Thufir Hawat in the science fiction film Dune (2021).
John Richard Easton was a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Brian Hammond in the 1970s BBC serial The Brothers.
Kevin Cahoon is an American actor, director, writer, and singer-songwriter.
Danny Burstein is an American actor and singer, most known for his work on the Broadway stage.
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in American history". With a career spanning six decades, Jones is among the few performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). Jones's voice has been praised as a "a stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas" to his projects, including live-action acting, voice acting, and commercial voice-overs.
Marion Isaac McClinton was an American theatre director, playwright, and actor. He was nominated for the Tony Award for King Hedley II. He won the 2000 Vivian Robinson Audelco Black Theatre Awards, Director/Dramatic Production and the 1999–2000 Obie Awards, Direction, for Jitney, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award.
Charles Randolph-Wright is an American film, television, and theatre director, television producer, screenwriter, and playwright.
Toni-Leslie James is an American costume designer for stage, television and film. James was awarded The Irene Sharaff Young Masters Award and the 2009 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Costume Design. She received a BFA in costume design from The Ohio State University. James was an associate professor and head of design in the theatre department of Virginia Commonwealth University for 12 years, and is currently an assistant professor of design and Yale Repertory Theatre resident costume designer for the Yale School of Drama.
Curtis L. McClarin was an American film, television and stage actor. He began all three careers in the beginning of the 1990s, appearing in films such as The Hard Way and Fresh, in the television film Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story about the death of Edmund Perry, and on Broadway in the Tony Award nominated musical Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.
American actor James Earl Jones has had an extensive career in various film, television, and theatre. He started out in film by appearing in the 1964 political satire film Dr. Strangelove as Lt. Lothar Zogg. He then went on to star in the 1970 film The Great White Hope as Jack Jefferson, a role he first played in the Broadway production of the same name. The film role earned him two Golden Globe nominations, one for Best Actor and winning one for New Star of the Year. He also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. His other work in the 1970s included playing the title character in Malcolm X (1972), Johnny Williams in The River Niger (1976), Nick Debrett in Swashbuckler (1976), Malcolm X again in The Greatest (1977), and The Bushido Blade with Richard Boone (1979).
Kate Goehring is an American stage, film and television actress.
Jimmy Ray Bennett is an American actor. He is best known as the voice of Floyd Hebert in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V and in television for the roles of Nathan Brooks in the Amazon Studios drama Hand of God and as the "White DL" in the Peabody Award-winning documentary DL Hughley: The Endangered List on Comedy Central.
JeffreySteitzer is an American voice actor, stage actor, and director. He is best known for being the voice of the multiplayer announcer in the Halo series.
John Earl Jelks is an American actor. Working extensively in theatre, Jelks is also known for screen roles, including in films such as Compensation (1999), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), Enter the Dangerous Mind (2013), Night Comes On (2018), and television series such as True Detective (2019), The I-Land (2019), and On Becoming a God in Central Florida (2019).
