Fences is probably the most successful play of August Wilson‘s celebrated “Pittsburgh Cycle“. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983, premiering on Broadway in 1987 with James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson. Wilson completed a screenplay before his death with Paramount holding the rights but Wilson insisted on an African-American director so the project was shelved for a number of years. Denzel Washington, who had directed two films before, was glad to oblige and is now bringing Fences to the big screen.