Baltimore, MD (1.13.26) – Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) announces its production of August Wilson’s Fences, directed by Reginald L. Douglas, running from February 6 to March 1, 2026. The Pulitzer Prize–winning drama is CSC’s second staging in the Baltimore August Wilson Celebration (BAWC) and stands as the sixth play presented in the city-wide tribute to Wilson’s American Century Cycle. The play represents perhaps Wilson’s most important work, often cited for its cultural reach and intimate examination of family, labor, and the American promise.

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, Fences centers on Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball star whose deferred dreams cast long shadows over his life as a husband, father, and working man. Now a sanitation worker, Troy is forced to wrestle with a world that denied him opportunity while demanding his unwavering labor.

Embodying Troy’s towering presence is CSC company member DeJeanette Horne, a familiar force on the CSC stage, appearing last season as the title role in Julius Caesar and as the Earl of Leicester in Mary Stuart. Opposite Horne, his real-life wife, Lolita Marie, brings Rose Maxson to life. Marie is a Helen Hayes Award–winning actor celebrated for her commanding and versatile performances across the region. Together, their participation reflects CSC’s sustained commitment to uplifting the region’s robust theatre community.

Director Reginald L. Douglas, the Artistic Director of D.C.’s Mosaic Theater Company, will make his CSC debut, returning to August Wilson’s work for a third time. Douglas, a nationally recognized director and producer, brings a seasoned understanding of Wilson’s language and architecture to a company rooted in classical text, situating Fences in conversation with enduring works of the theatrical canon.

“Having Wilson’s words on stage at CSC helps affirm his power and prowess as one of the great playwrights of not just American history, but of all time and allows the epic characters of his plays, like Troy in Fences, to take their rightful spotlight in the canon alongside those of the classics,” notes Douglas. “Our production celebrates the heart, humor, vulnerability, and resilience of the many unsung heroes of African American history and offers audiences the opportunity to reflect on our shared history as a country of people daring to dream.”

CSC commenced its participation in the BAWC with the 2024 staging of Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and now returns to mark its culmination with Fences. The production immediately follows Wilson’s Seven Guitars presented by Spotlighters Theatre, the fifth show in the Celebration, running January 9–February 1, 2026.  The Celebration was conceived by CSC Producing Executive Director Lesley Malin and is administered by CSC.

As with previous BAWC productions, CSC will offer community engagement opportunities designed to deepen dialogue around the play’s themes and Wilson’s legacy, including post-show conversations and special events to be announced.

August Wilson's Fences is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.  www.concordtheatricals.com.

August Wilson’s Fences

Directed by Reginald L. Douglas

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is located at 7 South Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, two blocks north of the Inner Harbor. Parking is available for an adjusted rate at Truist Place or Propark. The theatre is accessible using the FREE Charm City Circulator and is located on the Purple Route. For more detailed information about directions, parking, and public transportation, click here.

Adult tickets start at $59, tickets for youth 25 and under start at $31, and preview tickets are $25. To purchase tickets, visit ChesapeakeShakespeare.com, or contact the Box Office directly by calling 410-244-8570 or visiting in person at 7 South Calvert Street. Discounts are available for groups of ten or more and active-duty military. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.chesapeakeshakespeare.com/fences.

Wednesday, February 4 at 8 PM – PREIVEW

Thursday, February 5 at 8 PM – PREVIEW/BLACK OUT NIGHT

Friday, February 6 at 8 PM – OPENING/PRESS NIGHT

Saturday, February 7 at 8 PM

Sunday, February 8 at 2 PM

Friday, February 13 at 8 PM

Saturday, February 14 at 8 PM

Sunday, February 15 at 2 PM

Thursday, February 19 at 7:30 PM

Friday, February 20 at 8 PM

Saturday, February 21 at 2 PM

Saturday, February 21 at 8 PM

Sunday, February 22 at 2 PM

Thursday, February 26 at 7:30 PM

Friday, February 27 at 8 PM

Saturday, February 28 at 8 PM

Sunday, March 1 at 2 PM

Troy Maxson – DeJeanette Horne *

Jim Bono – Aaron P. Watkins

Rose Maxson – Lolita Marie

Lyons – Evan T. Carrington

Gabriel – Shakill Jamal *

Cory – Isaiah C. Evans

Raynell – Mikayla Uqdah

Director – Reginald L. Douglas

Production Manager – Lauren Engler *

Production Stage Manager – Alexis E. Davis *+

Technical Director – Dan O’Brien *

Set Designer – Timothy Jones

Lighting Designer – Malory Hartman

Costume Designer – Cidney Forkpah

Sound Designer – Chris Lane

Props Artisan – Isabel deCarvalho

Assistant Director – Bernard B. Johnson

Production Associate – Dawn Thomas Reidy *•

Dramaturg – Khalid Y. Long

Music Director – Tiffany Underwood Holmes

Fights/Intimacy Director – Sierra Young

Assistant Stage Manager – Dynia Goodwin

CSC Technical Director – Dan O’Brien *

CSC Assistant Technical Director – Chester Stacy *

* CSC Company Member

+ Actors’ Equity Association

• CSC Black Classical Acting Ensemble Member

August Wilson (April 27, 1945 - October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African-Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced at regional theaters across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson's works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain's Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson's early works included the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwrighting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street - The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.

Founded in 2002, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company brings great classic theatre to Baltimore, Howard County, the state of Maryland, and beyond. The company offers performances of Shakespeare and other plays of classic stature that are unforgettable, challenging, and innovative. In 2012, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company acquired the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company building in downtown Baltimore, renovating it into a modern Globe Theater for indoor performances. CSC produces outdoor Shakespeare every summer at the PFI Historic Park in Howard County and brings free Shakespeare performances directly into neighborhoods across Maryland with our innovative travelling Shakespeare Beyond Wagon. The organization regularly serves 34,000+ people annually through artistic projects and intentional community engagement. CSC’s vibrant education program includes an extensive matinee series, camps, classes, and in and out-of-school residencies. The company invites patrons, students, and neighbors to become part of the creative collaboration that generates powerful, magical theatre and a more purposeful, engaged, and connected community.