Theatre

Fences is an award-winning play centered around a black man and his family in the 1950s. They are a low-income family consisting of Tony Maxson, the father and main character Rose Maxson, the mother Lyson Maxson, Tonys first-born from another marriage Cory, Tony and Roses son and Rynell, Tonys child with his mistress Alberta.

In the scenes where he had just come home from work (Scenes One and Four of Act One), Tony wears his garbage man uniform, a dark grayish green overall but like the first scene where hes seen relaxing, the top buttons are undone to reveal a T-shirt underneath. He is a stubborn, stagnant kind of man so his style of dress does not change much in the course of the play. In all other scenes, Tony wears a dark-colored button-down shirt tucked almost neatly into his slacks held up by suspenders. Adding the old pageboy hat he wears in his scenes outdoors, these clothes portray the middle-class stability and respectability he strives for, and the slight romanticism for (mostly imagined) grand bygone days he still harbors deep inside. His rougher nature shows through though, as the top few buttons of his shirt are undone showing his inner white T-shirt, his sleeves are rolled up to midway of his lower arm, and his shoes are old and a little scuffed. Though his shoes are obviously well-worn, they are clean, and his slacks pleated at least until Act Two Scene Three when Rose denounces her duties to him this reflects the efficiency and care of Rose.

Rose Maxson is a practical woman, more of a realist than her husband. While she wears a style of dress typical of housewives of the times, collared with slightly puffedflared sleeves the cut of her cotton dresses are simple, the frills are minimal, and the fit comfortable enough to be unflattering. Her skirt falls limply down to her knees, and her shoes are old and sensible. She wears neither makeup nor jewelry and her hair is cut short, not because it was fashionable at the time but because it is low-maintenance. Her loving, compassionate, and overall strong nature shows through subtly in the color of her clothes, old rose, light yellow, pale rust, slightly dull but warm colors. At the end of the play a few years had passed so grayness can be seen in her now longer hair, she needs to wear a wig for this, and she will also be wearing a small hat. The hat is simple but with the new longer hair its a touch of vanity where there was mostly none at all for most of the play, a small mark of the freedom she developed in that phase of her life.

Lyons Maxson only appears a few times, but hes a young man determined to make it on his own in music. His somewhat jaunty attitude when he asks for money in Act One Scene One is reflected in his clothes. Here he wears a vivid blue short-sleeved button-down shirt, haphazardly tucked in his slacks that are fashionably short enough that one can see part of his socks. He wears an old fedora on top his hair that is a little longer than his father and half-brothers close-cropped cuts. In his second appearance he wears the clothes he will be wearing to his jazz performance, an ever-so-slightly ill-fitting grey tweed dinner jacket over a white shirt, and dark pants he wears the same kind of clothes for his third appearance minus the suit. In the last scene, he is more disheveled overall he wears an old dark blue shirt and wrinkled pants, suggestive of the crooked direction his life has turned, but he still wears his battered fedora.

Cory Maxson is a responsible and caring young man, he is clean-cut with close-cropped hair and clean clothes. In most of the scenes he wears cotton polo shirts, faded jeans, and old sneakers. The shades of his shirts get darker though as the story progresses, initially neutral-colored (pale olive, mocha) they become dark brown and maroon in the scenes where he stands up to his father. In the scene (Act One Scene Three) where he comes home from football practice he is wearing a varsity jacket over a white shirt, with his jeans and sneakers and he wears the same clothes to help his father with the fence but minus his jacket. His plain white shirt gives him an air of innocence and vulnerability this is before his first verbal spat with his father. He is hopeful about getting a television and playing college football, but at the same time he is confused and asking for his fathers approval and affection. In the last scene he had just come home from the Marines so he wears his Marines uniform, everything about him is pristine and unwrinkled, from the hat on his shaved head to his shined shoes just like the coldness he attempted to present when initially refusing to go to the funeral.
Minor characters Jim Bono and Gabriel Maxsons wardrobes will not be too varied as their characters remain rather consistent through the play. Jim Bono, Troys close friend, wears the same kind of garbage man overalls Troy wears during the scenes of their Friday night drinking sessions. In all the other scenes, he is wearing a light brown jacket over a white shirt, tucked into his belted light slacks he is a good man, though initially submissive to Troy, and he needs gentle, neutral colors to reflect his character. Gabriel on the other hand wears a plain T-shirt and pants, but in his more insane moments it should be rather appropriate for him to wear an almost threadbare robe over his clothes when he thinks hes the angel Gabriel.

Raynell Maxson appears only twice in the whole play, and the first is as an infant, but she represents innocence and hope for the future for the rest of the family. The start of the final scene finds her in the garden, she wears a white house dress thats dirty at the edges from the soil and dirty shoes, which prompts Rose to call her into the house to change her clothes. At the funeral, though she wears black funeral clothes like the rest of the family, bright red ribbons are in her pigtailed hair a brightness in the dark, hope.