Comments of the director and student actors on their scene and characters:
Susan Krienke (director) on Act 1, scene 3 of Fences
The function of this scene is to display the relationship that Troy and Cory share. Troy doesn't want Cory to make the same mistakes that he made as a young man. Troy is determined not to let Cory play sports and ruin his life. Cory just thinks that Troy is just jealous of him. Throughout the play, Troy and Cory share different views and don't get along. This scene functions to show that Cory and Troy share a turbulent relationship in which they both dislike each other. While Troy dislikes Cory, he still loves him and displays his responsibility toward him. Likewise, Cory may dislike his dad but he still respects him and deep down he loves him.
In the presentation of our scene, there is an element of hostility that lingers between Troy and Cory the length of their conversation. Troy never becomes too rough with Cory, but does display his unhappiness and authority over him. We used voice and hand actions to display this. Troy raises his rough voice at Cory but never really yells and uses many gestures. Cory on the other hand, seems to be a bit intimidated by his father but not scared. He really doesn't want to listen to his father, but at the same time he respects his father so he listens. Cory is not afraid to ask his father questions, maybe just a little hesitant. As far as Rose's role in the scene, she just doesn't understand why Troy is so hard on Cory. Rose is respectful toward her husband and never really gets mad at him, but perhaps frustrated. She just doesn't understand why Cory can't play ball. She is not afraid to speak her mind and let Troy know what she thinks. She is very much respectful toward her husband and uses a quiet and sensible voice with him. Troy is a little touchy about what she has to say to her, but never gets angry at her. He just tells it like it is. At the end we wanted to show that he did care about and love Rose, so we added in a bit of affection in Troy's last line.
Our group's overall interpretation of the play was that Troy wanted to make a better life for himself and his family. He made many mistakes in his life that he did not want his family to make. He took responsibility for his family and did what he could. We don't necessarily agree with everything that he did, but we do give him credit for overcoming the bad. He could have been like his dead beat dad, but that wasn't good enough for him. This scene show's that he was being a responsible dad toward Cory and was trying to form Cory into a responsible person. As he says I his last line, he had given all he can and he had nothing else to give.
Our group did the scene on pages 1517 and 1518. The character I played was Rose. Our groups interpretation of Rose is that although she loves her husband and usually looks up to him, she disagrees with him about Cory. In this scene you see Rose finally get a little fed up with Troy's domineering attitude of "his way or no way". She tries to point out that Cory is just trying to be like him when it comes to sports. Rose's function in this scene is important because she brings Troy's character out. Instead of the fierce father who doesn't want to listen to anybody else, you see a man who loves his wife and only wants what's best for his son. I don't think the audience was prepared for Rose to have an opinion that differed from Troy's. It allowed us to see that when she really thinks Troy is wrong about the decisions he makes for the family she's gonna let him know, since her ultimate goal is to keep her family happy and close to home. I thought it was ironic that in this scene Rose takes Cory's side against Troy's, but in the last scene it is reversed and Rose takes up for Troy. At many times through the play Rose plays the referee.
The function of Act I., scene three is to show that Troy loves his son, event though he does not say it. In this scene Troy and Cory engaged in a father/son discussion about life. Cory was told he could play football only if he could take on the responsibilities of school, household chores, and a job. Ultimately, Troy tried to steer Cory away form football, fearing that Cory would never have a chance to play professionally. He then explained that he had a responsibility to care for his son, but never said that he loved/liked him. Troy had a problem expressing his feelings as a father because as a son, his father did no such thing.
Troy loved his son, but just could not show his love. He was hard on Cory because he did not want Cory to waste half of his life on a lost cause (football). Troy's goal for Cory was to learn a trade so that he may make "his own way" and support a family. He did not see that the time that passed between his youth and adulthood had changed society somewhat. Cory believed he would have a bright future as a college athlete and student. Troy, on the other hand, knew in his heart that would not be the case.
As a father, Troy tried to help make a better way for Cory. He was not given this guidance as a boy. Just like any good parent, he tried to do better for his child. Troy was a loud person who told a lot of stories. He joked many times, especially when talking to or about his wife in front of his friend Bono. We see a more serious side of Troy in this scene.
This scene also sets the audience up of disappointment. The reader is swept up by Troy's words as a father. Further along in the play, however, we are let down with Troy's confession of infidelity. Every scene in this play is designed to pull the emotional strings and get the audience involved.
My group did the scene where Troy teaches Cory about responsibility. We decided before portraying the scene that, by the end of the play, Cory does love his father. However, this is not always seen or even felt by Cory throughout the entire play. While Cory is growing and arguing with Troy, he seems to have pent up anger inside that is sometimes expressed, but mostly just felt. Cory is going through the same trials of an every-day teenager trying to prove himself to be his own person. Cory argues with Troy about his freedom and desires to do what he wants to do. Troy argues with Cory about his responsibilities and not his dreams. Both of them try to prove themselves right. Neither of them succeed.
In the scene my group acted out I portrayed Cory as an argumentative teen who wishes his dad would listen to him sometimes, yet he doesn't want to have to listen to his dad. He truly believes that his dad doesn't like him. Therefore, he is on the defensive and is partially self-conscious while trying to win his father's acceptance. This is portrayed in the way he asks his father if he likes him, and then also in his response to his father's question concerning why Cory thinks Troy does what he does. In my portrayal, I try to make Cory react like a normal teen would react to his father's speech about "food in your stomach" and "clothes on your back". Yet, I try to make sure that Cory seems to truly listen to his father's reasoning about responsibility. This is done because my group feels that Cory has some desire to know what his father's ideas are, as well as the fact that Cory was more than likely raised to respect his father.
My portrayal is previously set up by Cory's way of sometimes disobeying and going against his father's and mother's desires. For example, he didn't listen to his mom when she asked him to pick up his room. And, he didn't listen to his dad when he told him to quit the team and work. So, Cory seems a little perturbed, and shows it, during Troy's responsibility speech. Yet, in our scene, I also acted as if I respected Troy and his ideas to a certain extent. The purpose of this was to prepare Cory in his last scene where he learns that he really does respect his father now that he's gone.
Cory is as important to this scene as is Rose. Without Cory in this scene, Troy wouldn't be able to express the reasons why he does certain things. Also, Troy's ideas and feelings would not be as well known to the audience if Cory was not there for Troy to tell them to. The idea of having Cory in this scene brings out the chance of having Troy be portrayed as a man who means what he says and feels. If Troy weren't talking to Cory and perhaps was talking to himself in a soliloquy the feelings wouldn't be seen as well. Cory makes the entire scene fall into place.