Tuesday, September 29, 2009
PRINCESS ANNE, MD-An adaptation of “Fences,” an award-winning play by African-American playwright August Wilson, will be performed at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore by the university’s Drama Society. The performances take place Wednesday, October 28 through Saturday, October 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts. A round table discussion follows the October 29 performance.
Awarded the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, “Fences” is the sixth in Wilson’s ten-play series, the Pittsburg Cycle. The plays mix comedy and drama to depict racial discrimination experienced by African-Americans in the twentieth century. Each is set in a different decade.
“‘Fences’ is Wilson’s most-anthologized play,” said Dr. Dean Cooledge, assistant professor, UMES Department of English and Modern Languages, a participant in the upcoming round table discussion. “The themes are ones to which we can all relate. Wilson foregrounds domestic relationships: husband and wife, father and son, brothers and friends. In this play he shows us the sacrifices that we have to make to maintain these relationships.”
“Many talented students arrive on campus each semester and it’s a joy for me to work with them,” said Dr. Dameron-Johnson, director of drama and assistant professor of English and Modern Languages. “This semester we have many new faces as a part of the University Theater Series, and I believe the audience won’t be disappointed.”
Tickets will be available at the door. Prices are $5 for the general public, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for UMES students. For more information, call 410-651-6575.
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Gail Stephens, assistant director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-651-7580, gcstephens@umes.edu.
Suzanne Waters Street, director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-621-2355, sstreet@umes.edu.
