The year is 1985. A gallon of gas would bring you to the
subtotal of $1.09. The first .com domain is registered. And the Government is
trying to crack down on Aids. Amongst these events of the world August Wilson’s
“Fences” premieres.
Fences, Wilson’s most popular play, chronicles the story of
a Negro baseball league player who must leave his job on the baseball diamond
to work as a garbage man. It takes place in the 1950’s. The story does more than
just touch on the racial inequalities of the time but revolves around them.
Think of the people in the audience to view such a play.
What do you picture? If you’re like me you probably picture a stereotypical
play audience: dressed up, clean, white people. There they sat learning about
the struggle of an African American just years before.
Throughout August Wilson’s Career he aimed to speak on these
taboos of racial stereotypes, pursuing them rather than just hushing them into
a corner.
August Wilson was a black man, who wrote about African
American struggles but his legacy will go on in being a much needed figure to
break down our racial differences. Whether it was about the people in the
theaters or the people he was writing about. He aimed to accomplish a setting
where a person of any color could be seen the same. He was the playwright we
all needed. His plays dance over historical pretense and racial boundaries to describe
a world often unseen by audiences in theaters. He aims to break down the walls
that institutionalized racism has built up.
Wilson’s plays can teach us so much, learning where we came
from so we can shape a better tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.