Viola Davis
Famous 20th century playwright August Wilson (1945-2005) set out to capture the African-American experience of the 1900s with ten plays (one for each decade) as part of a collection called The Pittsburgh Cycle. The play for the 1950s, Fences. is the most well-known having won the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize in 1987. It’s a story fraught with heavy themes, bigger than simply 1950s racial tensions but universal explorations of family responsibilities and hopeless dreams. The main character of Fences is Troy Maxon, a garbage collector in Pittsburgh whose failure to break into Major League Baseball (the color barrier had not yet been broken) had made him harsh and resentful. But the real hero is Rose Maxon, a woman who allows her overbearing husband to overshadow her own dreams until she realizes his bitterness is poisoning the entire family. It’s a role that, if done right, is incredibly moving. Viola Davis nails it. Rose Maxon slowly transitions from subdued housewife to fiercely independent, and Davis portrays that shift with beautiful strength.