Lou Bellamy will make his directorial debut with the Denver Center Theatre Company for the upcoming production of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Fences,” but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the piece intimately. As the founder of the Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, Minn., Bellamy was a seminal part of a historic arts organization, one that helped launch Wilson’s career as a playwright. “Fences,” one of the best-known pieces in Wilson’s epic “Pittsburgh Cycle,” tells the story of a former baseball star whose career was stalled and spoiled by the racism that was an institution in American sports before Jackie Robinson.
Bellamy’s input on the DCTC’s production is bound to lend the show a special degree of insight and authenticity. Bellamy followed James Earl Jones in the lead role after the show debuted on Broadway in 1987.
We caught up with Bellamy to get some insight on the drama, its central conflict and the transition to directing a Denver troupe.
Aurora Sentinel: As someone who knows Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” quite well, what stands out to you about “Fences”?
Lou Bellamy: Out of the plays that have reached national exposure in the Wilson genre, this is the second one to reach national exposure. The first was “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
“Fences” is clearly one of the most accessible of his plays to everyone. It is specifically about Troy, an aging man who had come through the Negro Leagues and missed his chance to go into the big leagues. By the time the major leagues were allowing African Americans to play, he was already too old to take advantage of that. He’s embittered by the racism that kept him from reaching his dreams, but he’s really unaware of the effects of that outside influence on him. He believes he’s acting of his own volition, but he’s unaware that that experience has warped him.
It makes for wonderful theater.
What’s your specific experience with the piece?
I have played the role a number of times, I have directed it before. It’s accessible. I remember people from Japan, Sweden, Germany coming up and grabbing me, holding me, saying “That’s my father.”
Each time out, it’s different. The world is different. The community in which the play is embedded is different. It’s informed by everything current going on and everything that has come before it. It sounds trite, but it’s absolutely true.
How does your own relationship with Wilson color your performance?
I know the Wilson oeuvre, I know it very well. I was fortunate to know the author well. When you know all of those things, different characters from different plays, stories I’ve heard August tell – they inform your decision. You’re more apt to make a decision that embeds it in the African American culture and that’s consistent with the playwright’s intent. That kind of experience allows you to lift the play from the stage. The piece is great literature.
That’s what I hope, that we will give this production added depth and relevance and vitality.
How soon after the show’s debut did you take part in a production?
I had a chance to play the role shortly after it was on Broadway in 1987. At that time, we didn’t know that anyone could play the lead role besides James Earl Jones. It was really a challenge. I remember talking with Mr. Wilson about various monologues. It is a tour de force performance. There’s just so much to do, and it demands such a depth of craft and understanding of the culture. You’ve also got to be really, really well trained to make it through this formidable thing. I mean, this guy talks for three pages. Then someone says ‘You’re lying,’ and he talks for two more. I remember Wilson saying, ‘You’re not getting a laugh there, because you’re treating that sentence as if it’s a comma and it’s really a period.’ I said, ‘C’mon, I’m trying to get through three pages here and you’re telling me about a comma.’
When I first played the role, my daughter played the young girl Raynell. I remember sitting backstage … We would look out into the audience, peek through a hole in the fence …You could predict to the word when people reached down into their purses or pocket and began to pull out handkerchiefs. His dramaturgy is that exact. It’s a pleasure, a privilege, to be able to know that work and be able to understand its power and relevance.
How does working at the Denver Center compare to your other directorial experiences?
Having directed around the country, certainly this artistic team that you have in the city ranks among the very, very best. The people are proud of what they do. I’m working with Kim Staunton. Kent was very, very high on her and her playing her role. Boy, do I see why. What a marvelous and deep talent and what a wonderful lady. In the ensemble that we have put together here, there are stars; each of these actors are capable of being leads themselves. But they’ve surrendered that leading actor attitude to the ensemble. It is absolutely breathtaking.
They’ve all come together to do the play. That’s rare. The words in the play are paramount here and it really shows.
“Fences” runs until Oct. 14 at the Space Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1101 13th St. in Denver. Tickets start at $35. Information: 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org.