Theatre Austin and Austin Theatre Project are proud to present

FENCES

by August Wilson

January 18-20, 24-27, 31 February 1-3, 1991

Mary Moody Northen Theatre

"If the theatre is to J ulfill its social purpose it is contemporary and vital material which must make up the dramaturgy, and its theme must be important to the audience. Theatre must be in the present · tense."

Joan Littlewood

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--August Wilson

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Theatre Austin Our 1990-91 Season

The Road to Mecca, by Athol Fugard What Angels Do for Christmas,

by Ellsworth Schave Fences, by August Wilson

Max and Maxie, by James McLure

Cassandra Knobloch, Artistic Director Charles Ney, Associate Director

Ellsworth Schave, Resident Playwright

Board of Directors Cassandra Knobloch, President

Ellsworth Schave, Vice-President Michael Erhardt, Secretary-Treasurer

Gaye Bowen Charles Ney

Advisory Board Dr. John Brokaw Mr. Lanvil Gilbert Ms. Lea Goodsell

Ms.AciaGray Mr. Pete Harrell, Sr. Dr. Richard Hughes

Dr. Stephen B. Kinslow Ms. Michelle Stakelum Ney

Mr. Peter L. Pesoli Quintin J. Smith, M.D.

Our appreciation to Theatre Austin supporters Mrs. Virginia H. Copeland

Dr. Nancy Grayson Dr. Stephen B. Kinslow

Ms. Connie McMillan Mr. Leonard Reese

FENCES

by August Wilson

Cast in order of appearance

'rroy Maxson ......... _ .•.. _ ............. Billy Harden Jim Bono ............................... J. Eli Moten Rose ........................... ~ ....... Starla Benford Lyons .................................... Boyd Vance Gabriel................................. Victor Steele Cory. _ ................................. Kenny Jackson Raynell ...................... Leigh Gaymon-Jones

Time: 1957

Place: The yard of the Maxson household.

There will be one intermission.

ACT I, Scene 1 - Friday night ACT I, Scene 2 - The following morning ACT I, Scene 3 - Four hours later ACT I, Scene 4 - Friday, two weeks later

ACT II, Scene 1 - The following morning ACT II, Scene 2 - Early afternoon, six months later ACT II, Scene 3 - Late evening, three days later ACT II, Scene 4 - Two months later ACT II, Scene 5 - 1965, morning

FENCES is produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

Production Staff

Director Scene Design Lighting Design Costume Design Sound Design Technical Director Stage Manager Master Carpenter Scene Construction

Light Crew

Light Board Operator House Manager Program and Poster Art Program Typesetting Photography

Charles Ney Michelle Stakelum Ney John Harris, Jr. Edna Robinson Boyd Vance John Harris, Jr. Lisa Westkaemper Patrick Crowley Patrick Crowley, Milton Curry, John Harris, Jr., Philip Nolen, Caroline Weaver, Clay Towery Tomas Almanza, Philip Nolen, Ellsworth Schave Stephanie Grebe Mike Hamilton Michelle Stakelum Ney Tom Sethre Grace McEvoy

Acknowledgements

Mr. Patrick Bennett Ms. Ada Harden Ms. Bernice Koch

Ms. Mary Brooks Dr. Charles Hill Mr. Joe York

Minuteman Press Dougherty Arts Center

Gallery Theatre Mary Mocxly Northen Theatre

Tex-Ann Oil and Gas Corporation Zachary Scott Theatre Center

Special Thanks to Ms. Susan Loughran and Ms. Melba Martinez-Mishler for their assistance

Theatre Austin wishes to thank the Austin Circl~ of Theatres for its support services.

This production is funded in part by the City of Austin, under the auspices of the AustinArts Commission.

Austin Theatre Project Austin Theatre Project would like to acknowledge the many contributions of our company members:

Boyd Vance, Artistic Director

Renard Aybar Donna Criswell Dottie Curry Milton Curry Mick D'Arcy Betsy Dickson Felicia Dinwiddy Rodney Garza Billy Harden Pamela Hart Joni Hughes Ada Jemison J'aaz Jones Mila Kerr

Terri Marshall Demethia Mc Vea Michael Mitchell Gary Negbaur Sandra Nelson Sonja Parks Jeanine Rogers

· Tomas Salas Victor Steele Janis Stinson Atwell Tinnon Michael Watson Jimmy Wilson Melicent Wiltz

Our 1990-91 Season

Ladies of the Mop The Tortoise and the Hare Merry Christmas, Baby

And coming soon:

Black History Month Family Series - February 9, Zachary Scott Theatre Center

Masters of Music A Look at the 60's Black Dance in America

The Man Who Loved to Laugh - February 16 Austin Children's Museum '

A Soldier's Play TSOP

The Company

Billy Harden (l'roy) is a native Austinite. His stage performance career began with the 1984 Zachary Scott Theatre Center production of Bubb/in' Brown Sugar. He followed the production with successful runs of Ain't Misbehavin~ The Wiz, Purlie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, A Streetcar Named Desire, Eubie, The Great White Hope, One Mo' Time, and many others. He was nominated for a B. Iden Payne Award by the Austin Circle of Theatres for his performance in the Live Oak production of I'm Not Rappaport. Billy coordinates volunteer services for the Toxas Youth Commission Central Region. He is the organist for the Metropolitan AME Church. He loves sports and is an avid Dallas Cowboys and Runnin Homs fan.

Starla Benford (Rose) is a native Austinite. She loves to laugh out loud and owns approximately 80 pairs of shoes. Fences is her debut production at Mary Moody Northen Theatre. Her most recent performances include The Colored MLtSeum and I ligh Hopes and Heavy Sweatshirts, both at Live Oak Theatre. Other shows include Marat/Sade, 11,e Blacks, Phaedra, For Colored Girls ... , and A Streetcar Named Desire. Starla is the winner of a B. ldcn Payne Award for Best Actress in a Children's Production. She would like to dedicate her performance in Fences to her mother and all of her sisters. "We as a human race cannot be strong and productive without 'umoja' (unity)."

Boyd Vance (Co-Producer, Lyons) is a native of Houston and a graduate of the University of Toxas in Liberal Arts. His artistic endeavors and pursuits have led him in numerous directions, performing major roles in productions of Purlie, Cabaret, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Midsummer Night's Dream. He has directed little theatre and mainstage productions of The Mikado, Kiss Me Kate, Eubie, Purlie, Ain't Misbehavin ', and The Wiz. He has performed as an ensemble member of ZSTC's Project Interact, Esther's Follies, and as featured vocalist with the jazz band "Cool Breeze". He has collaborated with such major artists and companies as Women and Their Work, Ballet Austin, Black Arts Alliance, Toxas Folklife Resources, AISD's Snap-Tu, KUT, and KLRN.

Kenny Jackson (Cory) makes his Austin theatre debut in this production of Fences. As a young actor/singer, Kenny was a prominent member of the Starlight Theatre Company of Bowie High School. He has performed in Little Shop of Horrors and Don't You Wanna Be Free. He was last seen in the Starlight production of The Hobbit.

Victor Steele (Gabrielj is an independent actor who prefers the more eclectic roles. Since arriving in Austin he has been seen in theAustin Shakespeare Festival production of Comedy of E,rrors and ZSTC's production of Tire Man Who Came to Dinner. He is best known for his non-fragile ego.

J. Eli Moten (Hono) is an Austin native who returns to the Austin stage with this rule. An actor, singer, and dancer, Eli has performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad. He was last seen on Austin stages in the Capitol City Playhouse production of Streamers.

Leigh Gaymon-Jones (Raynell) is six years old and in the first grade at Winn Elementary School. She has taken Creative Dramatics at the John R Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and at the University of Toxas. She appeared in a television commercial for PBS, as well as in a video for the stage production of Live/Set_ This is her first stage role.

Michelle Ney (Scene Design) is a costume and scenic designer. Currently she is on the design faculty of the University of Toxas Drama Department, where her designs for the Drama, Music and Dance programs have included 11,e Merry Widow, Cosi fan 'Jutte, 1rojan Women, A Doll's /louse, Gianni Schicchi, 1bmfoolery, and The Physicists. Michelle has also designed scenery and costumes for the Toxas Shakespeare Festival's productions of Macbeth, Taming of tire Shrew, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Prior to working at UT, she taught and served as the Costume Designer for St. Edward's University. She is a three-time recipient of the United States Institute of Theatre Tochnology's Design Toxas Award of Excellence, and she has received the national costume design and regional scenic design award from the American College Theatre Festival. Her credits also include numerous stage management and production coordination assignments for vaious arts organizations. She received her MFA in theatrical design from the University of Tuxas and did her undergraduate work at Southern Methodist University and the University of Illinois.

Edna Robinson (Costume Design) is the costume shop supervisor at Zachary Scott Theatre Center. She has designed costumes for Purlie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, J Am Annie Mae, and The Trip to Bountiful, as well as Tire Boy Who Talked to Whales and Rumpelstiltskin for Project Inter Act. She was the costume builder for the lavish The King and I and 11ie School for Wives. Her most recent work includes Laughing Wild and Divine Worth at ZSTC, and 11ie Seven Ages of Annie for ZSTC's Performing Arts School.

John Harris, Jr. (Lighting Design, Technical Director), who is an assistant professor in the Department of Drama al the University of Tuxas, is considered a "Quadruple Threat" in the theatre world. He is one of only a few directors who also design scenery, lighting, and costumes professionally. Although he considers scene design to be his forte, he is also a painter, draftsman, master carpenter, and electrician. He received his B.A. from Morehouse College and his M.RA. from New York University. John began his career as master carpenter for Atlanta's Theatre of the Stars and then free-lanced in New York City, including a brief stint as production supetvisor of the Negro Ensemble Company. One of his recent career highlights was serving as Assistant Art Director for Spike Lee's 1987 film School Daze.

Lisa Westkaemper (Stage Manager) has worked as a Properties Designer, Stage Manager, and Assistant Director. Her voluminous list of credits includes Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, A Christmas Caro~ A Lie of the Mind, Season's Greetings, Morning's at Seven, Harvey, 11,e Member of tire Wedding, and the widely acclaimed 11,e Trip to Bountiful. Lisa served for two years as Executive Director for the Austin Circle of Theatres. Currently she is a design major in the L ,. ,- : . of Drama at the University of Toxas.

Charles Ney (Director) is a faculty member.in theatre at St. Edward's University, where he teaches acting, directing, and voice and diction. Al SEU's Mary Moody Northen Theatre, he has directedA Midsw11mer Night's Dream, Medea, Chicago, Man of Mode, and El Grande de Coca-Cola. He has also acted for SEU as the Player in Rosencrantz and GuildenstemAre Dead and as Col. Melkett in Black Comedy. Charles was the founder and director of Manhattan Clearing House Performing Arts Center in Dallas, where he directed St. Joan of the Stockyards and the southwest premiere of Miss Margarida's Way in conjunction with the Neiman-Marcus Brasil Fortnight. At MCH, he also produced Dallas' first Contemporary Dance Festival. Currently, Charles is on the Board of Directors for the Toxas Educational Theatre Association and coordinates their advocacy efforts. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, his M.RA in directing from Southern Methodist University, and his B.RA from Illinois Wesleyan University. He is also a member of Actor's Equity Association and is a candidate for membership in the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Cassandra Knobloch (Producer) is the founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Austin. Her world-premiere production of Ellsworth Schave's ,A TexasRomance garnered four B. Iden Payne Award nominations from the Austin Circle of Theatres, including Best Director of a Comedy and Comedy Production of the Year. Her production of Confluence earned three Payne Award nominations, including Best Director of a Drama. She has served as guest director of Austin Community College's Gallery Theatre for Crimes of tire Heart, Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander, 111<; flel}_I Inspector Hound, and the ACC/ZSTC co-production of 111e Member of the 'weaaing. C~andra also teaches drama and speech classes at ACC. She earned her Ph.D. in Theatre Arts from Florida State University, and she is an active member of the Tuxas Educational Theatre Association, the Southwest Theatre Conference, and the Association of Theatre in Higher Education. She is the immediate past president of the Board of Directors of the Austin Circle of Theatres (AC01).

Theatre Austin is a non-profit corporation designated as a 501(c)(3) organization by the IRS, and all contributions arc tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. We hold an approved solicitation permit, #5240, from the City of Austin. All our fund-raising is done on a volunteer basis by members of the company.

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