Watching Fences

So much more complete, watching it rather than reading it (or reading it and then watching it... difficult to say which). The motions of the characters unify their personalities in a way that their dialogue and monologues did not do for me on the page. Watching Troy tell a story about leaving home or wrestling with Death was much more dynamic than simply reading it, especially in parts with repetition of lines or ideas. They flowed with his character onstage very well, but on the page just did not separate the undertones of similar text. Because of that, it is tempting for me as a playwright to add many stage directions, but that can take away from the production, and limit the visual, if there are too many stage directions in the script. Trying to pin it in too much could have the opposite effect and cause the scene to loose that dynamicism of movement. Striking the balance will be an interesting process.

Watching the play, there were a couple times that I lost lines because of the dialect combined with speed or overlap. It was not enough to wish that the dialect speech was not there, but it was nice to be able to read the lines and catch all of what was being said. Hearing the speech also helped to ground me in the time and place in a way that simply reading it could not do. I do not know if this was related to dialect or not, but the actress who played Rose, while I liked her acting, I did not like her inflection on some of the lines. It could have been a combination of dialect and emotion, or even character. I think it was that her voice went up at the end of many lines that it didn't seem like it fit with. However, I couldn't really pin it down.

Transformations can also be more striking/apparent on stage than on the page. Corey returning as a Marine, for example, was clear in the book. However, seeing him with the changed mannerisms, posture, and speech patterns on stage brought out the change so much better.

In addition to change, I could also see parallels more (partly because I'd read the script before seeing it, but also partly from watching the physicality of some scenes). What stuck out most for me was Troy's insistence that Corey call him "sir." In the scene with their first major argument where this comes out, Troy stalks around Corey like a drill sergeant. In a way, it made perfect since for Corey to join the Marines. He was used to that environment, control, and discipline. Even by leaving and joining the Marines, he could not escape the influence of his father. It was a very nice parallel that I completely missed in the book.

On a side note, I got the the play a couple minutes late, so I got to watch the play from the back of the theater, where I could see the entire action, framed by the stage, and from about the middle, so I could see into the doorway and windows and such. However, after intermission, I took my seat in the far left front row! It was a huge difference. I missed the encompassing unity of the visual, and I couldn't see into the doorway anymore. However, the near presence of the actors was rather incredible also, and seeing their focus and their characters from close by was an entirely different, but great, experience also. I thought it was a really cool contrast to see both ways. :)