Denzel Washington and Viola Davis to Star in Broadway Revival of Fences

Two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington is now confirmed as the star of a forthcoming Broadway revival of August Wilson’s Fences, with Tony winner and Oscar nominee Viola Davis co-starring as his wife. Directed by Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf), the 13-week limited engagement will begin previews on April 14 at the Cort Theatre, with opening night set for April 26. Additional casting and creative team will be announced soon.

Fences is one of the 10 plays in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, focusing on the African-American experience in the 20th century. The play centers on Troy Maxson (Washington), a Pittsburgh sanitation worker who once dreamed of a baseball career, but was too old when the major leagues finally admitted black players. As he faces off against the racial barrier at work and his own disappointments, Troy also grapples with his son Cory over the teenager’s hope for a football scholarship and with his wife, Rose (Davis), who confronts Troy over a child he has fathered with another woman.

The original 1987 Broadway production of Fences won the Pulitzer Prize and Best Play Tony Award as well as Best Actor (James Earl Jones) and Best Actree (Mary Alice) for the roles to be played by Washington and Davis in the revival. It ran for 525 performances, Wilson’s biggest commercial success on Broadway.

Washington played Brutus in a 2005 Broadway revival of Julius Caesar and starred in a 1990 Central Park production of Richard III. In 1979, he had multiple roles in a Central Park production of Coriolanus and later starred off-Broadway in A Soldier’s Play and on Broadway in Checkmates. Other theater credits include The Mighty Gents, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and When the Chickens Come Home to Roost. Washington received an Academy Award for Best Actor for Training Day and for Best Supporting Actor for Glory. His most recent films include The Book of Eli, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The Great Debaters, American Gangster and Inside Man.

Davis won a Tony for her performance in August Wilson's King Hedley II and was nominated for a Tony for Wilson’s Seven Guitars. She received an Oscar nomination for the film adaptation of Doubt. Other New York theater credits include Intimate Apparel, Everybody’s Ruby, Pericles, As You Like It and God’s Heart. Upcoming films include Eat, Pray, Love; Trust and Knight & Day.

The Broadway revival of Fences will be produced by Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott Rudin.