Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Under Cole's direction, the actors share strong chemistry and always hit the right notes in Wilson's dialogue - alternatively humorous, poetic and searing. The complicated family relationships are foregrounded by staging that never distracts from the performances but erupts into violent physicality when called for. At the play's heart are a flawed patriarch straining against an inequitable society and resilient family members who fight to overcome generational trauma - characters who are vividly brought to life at American Blues Theater."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...In director Monty Cole's staging for American Blues Theater, Wilson's 1950s-set drama swings for the fences with mixed results. Despite strong leading performances and an ensemble that doesn't flinch from going big with the rawest of emotions, the staging is hampered by sluggish pacing and tentative moments when Wilson's rich, rhythmic dialogue becomes more laborious than lyrical. The brilliance of the words glimmers through in shards rather than full light, resulting in a tantalizing but frustrating production."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...One of the wonderful things about Fences-perhaps Wilson's most tightly-constructed play-is the way it riffs on Death of a Salesman. The final scenes are deliberately parallel, as Rose insists that Cory pay respect to Troy, for all his failings, just as Linda Loman insists, "Attention must be paid!" There could be families less similar on the surface than the Lomans and the Maxons (as their equal-and-opposite names suggest); but if all happy families are alike, so are all families whose sons break down when they discover that Dad is not a hero after all but just someone struggling to get by."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...Directed by award-winning theater and film writer-director Monty Cole, American Blues Theater brings to the stage one of America's greatest playwrights, August Wilson. Wilson's play, FENCES, is the third installment in Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle." It examines the struggles and racism African-Americans experienced living in a world where they feared black masculinity and blacks were considered unintelligent and incapable of performing jobs that white people performed. Written in 1985, FENCES focuses on Troy, a proud garbage collector with an unfortunate circumstance that caused him to go to prison. As a result, this ex-convict who once had a promising baseball future was stripped of his chances of success."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...August Wilson has brought some amazing stories to the stages of America. His works explore the heritage of the African-American population in relation to their lives in America over the course of the 20th century and the plays are called The American Century Cycle ( each play is a different and unique decade). "Fences" his third of the ten play "cycle" is about Troy Maxson ( played to perfection by Kamal Angelo Bolden) who was a ball player in the Negro League. In fact, one might call him a star in that league. It is 1957. Jackie Robinson is a major leaguer and Troy is a garbage man in Pittsburgh."
WTTW
- Highly Recommended
"...And now, for American Blues Theater, director Monty Cole and his uniformly breathtaking cast has created a blistering production of "Fences," Wilson's family drama set in the late 1950s."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...American Blues minimalist production of “Fences” under the direction of Monty Cole is powerful, bold, and beautiful. I love when theaters take chances. No guts, no glory….and there is plenty of glory here."
Picture This Post
- Highly Recommended
"...Fences is a Pulitzer Prize winning script, we are reminded both in the program notes and by the poetry of Wilson’s lines. If you too look to theater as a way to understand what being human is, the few hours you join Troy on his journey to meet his maker are well worth your time."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...I had the pleasure of seeing the 2010 Broadway production of Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Monte Cole does a great job directing this compelling drama in this production version, which I consider August Wilson's best play. The set is strategically staged in the center, making it more up close and personal. It feels as though you are at a family backyard gathering."
