DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710010143

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 09   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: THEATER REVIEW 

SOURCE: Montague Gammon III 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

ZWG HITS A TRIPLE WITH ``FENCES''

``Fences'' is full of baseball metaphors, and in that parlance the ZWG Repertory Theatre is now batting 2 for 2.

If the last show at ZWG was a home run, then the current production of ``Fences'' is at least a stand-up triple. Clear directing and performances full of rich detail bring out the best of a deceptively difficult script.

August Wilson's vastly popular drama is about an African-American family living in the urban northeast in 1957. Troy Maxson is a one-time baseball star of the Negro Leagues who now, at age 53, works on a garbage truck. With him live his wife, Rose, and his 17-year-old son, Corey.

Lyons, his elder son by another woman, stops by now and again to cage a few dollars, his ex-con buddy Bono pops in weekly to share a gin bottle, and a brain-damaged vet named Gabriel floats through proclaiming his religious fantasies.

Rodney Williams repeats the role of Troy that he played in a recent production elsewhere, and W.E. Peoples returns in the role of Corey. Both performances have taken on dimensions that they did not reveal several months ago. Williams holds on to the zest, the size and the energy he had before, but makes the man more comprehensible and complete. This interpretation steers away from making Troy a mean-spirited and venal bully, adding a foundation of genuine good humor and love for others, and clarifying his all-important obsession with duty.

Peoples gives Corey more than frustration to drive his character. There is real communication between father and son, and a sense that Corey is truly attempting to cope with the fear his father inspires.

In the role of Rose, Troy's loving, beloved and much tried wife, Tonette Choate-Wilder produces her best, most relaxed performance ever. The character is unfailingly real. Ronald Bethea takes a wisely understated, subtle but carefully crafted approach to playing Bono, turning out a nicely detailed result. Tony Britt does a good, straightforward job as Lyons, and a young girl named Brittany M. Watson is a charmer in the role of a child named Raynell.

As Gabriel, Terrance Afer-Anderson deserves praise that is almost embarrassing, coming from one who must acknowledge a long-time friendship with him. His technique, concentration and compassionate interpretation of this sad, damaged soul are just superb.

Wilson's script is generally acknowledged, even by those who love it, to be sometimes overwritten and definitely overlong. (It runs about two-and-a-half hours, not counting the intermission.) Rodney Suiter's direction has minimized these flaws, given the show focus and brought out the lyricism for which Wilson strove.

``Fences'' will be produced frequently in years to come. In Tidewater, this production will serve as the standard by which other versions will be judged.

To return to the sporting terminology of which Troy Maxson is so fond, the ZWG Repertory Theatre has unquestionably entered the major leagues this season. ILLUSTRATION: Graphics

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: ``Fences,'' by August Wilson

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: ZWG Repertory Theatre, 810 Granby St.

TICKETS: Call 627-1568

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