Social Club hits it out of park with drama 'Fences'

The symbols are easy to spot in August Wilson's "Fences." Some of them sit in sawdust on the corner of the set, waiting to be nailed around the front yard.

"Some people build fences to keep people out," a man named Jim explains. "Other people build fences to keep people in."

Lucky for us, director Ken-Matt Martin's potent revival at the Des Moines Social Club flings the gate wide open, inviting viewers to meet a family whose story has the punch of poetry and sweep of a novel. Their laughter and pain feel as real as any family's you know.

In this account, Aaron Smith takes charge as the head of the household, Troy Maxson, with total commitment, exposing the character's magnetic strengths and tragic flaws in equal measure. Troy was once a standout in baseball's Negro League but now works as a Pittsburgh garbage man, beaten down by racism and the bitter economic realities for blacks in the 1950s.

He was beaten in a different way by a cruel childhood in the South, which we glimpse in the dabs of background that fill out the first act.

The rest of the family portrait includes Troy's long-suffering wife, Rose (Tiffany Johnson), who has plenty of struggles of her own, and their almost-grown son, Cory (Freddie Fulton), who has a chance to play football in college — but only if his old man will let him. Layers of resentment get in the way.

Pernell Ferguson, Odell McGhee, Fonz Jenkins and fourth-grader Lyric Sellers turn in fine performances in supporting roles (all dressed in Josie Poppen's authentic '50s costumes), but the explosive tug-of-war among the three central characters is hard to beat, especially in the Social Club's intimate theater, where you can see the actors' tiniest moves.

The ease of Troy's swagger, the stiffening of his wife's spine, the set of his son's jaw — all these speak volumes about the nature of their shifting relationships.

The actors speak well in a literal way, too, with an ear for the musical dialogue of the Pulitzer-winning script. They lingered too long on some of their lines at Thursday's preview, pushing the performance toward three hours, but Wilson's language deserves to be be savored rather then sped through.

The story that spills across the Maxson family's well-worn porch (realistically designed and dappled in light by Jay Jagim, with evocative murals by Jordan Weber) is the best-known chapter of Wilson's 10-play "Century Cycle" about African-American life in the 20th century. Director Martin may stage the others, too, if this one succeeds — and it should. Tickets for Friday's opening sold out earlier this week.

But in the end, "Fences" is less about a particular family in a particular slice of history than a universal drama about husbands and wives, parents and children, and the ghosts of generations who came before. As much as Troy listens to the better angels of his nature, he is haunted by the demons of his past.

'Fences'

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through June 29.

WHERE: Des Moines Social Club's Kum & Go Theater, 900 Mulberry St.

TICKETS: $15-$20.

INFO: www.fencesdsm.com