There are perhaps few playwrights, bar Shakespeare, who were and remain as prolific today, through the works they left behind, as August Wilson, is. Throughout his life and career, he wrote an entire circle of plays – ten in total – known as the “Pittsburgh Cycle”, with each one depicting a decade of African-American life during the 20^th century. By doing so, he connected with a society and a generation in a way no one before him had before or, it could be argued, has done since. One of his most famous works is the first feature in a newly released double-play book; Fences, which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play, and was made into a multi-award winning film in 2016.

Fences, set in the 1950’s, centers around Troy Maxson, husband of Rose and father of Cory; a man who has for all his life has felt, endured and lived through the pressures, trials and tribulations that come with being a proud black man in a world and at a time when white society was dominant and anyone who was of another race or skin colour was deemed “lowly” or “second class.” The world however is slowly undergoing a transformation, and as a result, life is confusing, and uncertainty, together with a growing belief of and in some semblance of equality, is taking hold.

The central characters in the book, each in their own way, are hoping for and working/fighting towards making a better life for themselves. The American Dream as we know it today, and as it was back then, is just beyond their grasp, yet they can all see it in the distance. The fight for this brighter future is perhaps most visible in the character of Cory, who yearns to both play football and go to college. He’s a testament to the desire and willingness of the younger generations to make lives of their own, and though things don’t work out for him in this respect, Cory does indeed break away from the family – notably his father who strongly disagrees with his son as to what he wants to do -in other ways, with the bond between father and son never the same afterwards.

As for the fence mentioned in the title, the reasoning and importance behind it can be left open to personal interpretation however Troy sees and uses it as a literal and metaphorical barrier to keep a distance between things and people who don’t work out for or agree with him on a number of issues that for him are a priority in his life and for his future. Family is a key part of the play; with Troy’s brother Gabe, badly injured in the first World War, a key figure, not just to Troy, but through actions that unfold in the closing pages, to everyone around him at a time and during an occasion when unity is perhaps most needed.

The second play in the book, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, has reached a whole new audience lately thanks to a film adaptation starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman which was released last week. The title of the play comes from the Ma Rainey song of the same name, with Rainey – a well-known blues singer in the 1920’s – not only being the inspiration for the work but also the titular, central character. As with Fences, the play, which was nominated for a Tony Award and won a New York Drama Critics Award, addresses issues of race, art and religion, with a focus on the exploitation of black recording artists by their white, more “dominant” producers.

Set in Chicago, during a period that saw a great migration of African Americans to the north, as they began to assert themselves in their fight to gain the rights already denied to them in the South, the play notes that even those of colour with some success to their name like Rainey – and therefore it could be said a better status than their ‘lower level’ friends and colleagues – were not immune from persecution and mistreatment. Rainey for instance, requires the assistance of a high-level Caucasian friend to help get her out of trouble, and her band-mates only want to be paid for their time and talents in cash due to tellers at banks being unwilling to assist them.

As with Cory in Fences, the fight and desire to make a life on your own terms is prevalent in at least one character in this play; notably Levee. He wants to start up his own band and create his own music while not being under the thumb of whites as he and his band-mates are while working with and for Rainey. Wilson’s description of the character and how badly he wants things to change also highlights how the desire for such change is and has become a growing movement hence the migration from the South, but also notes that real change is still some way beyond their reach; keep in mind Fences, set in the 1950’s, sees blacks still struggling and being deemed lower class.

One of big take-aways from the play comes in the form of a reminder that sometimes, as many of us may know and have experienced for ourselves, the desire for a better life and future, even when the position we have is better than most – comes at a cost – and can bring out the worst in us or unveil/bring to the forefront sides of us we perhaps didn’t even know we had. Such is the case with Levee, who, regularly at odds with veteran band members Cutler and Toledo, finds himself with no chance of making or having the future he’s been so adamant about wanting and working towards.

Both of Wilson’s plays highlight the struggles of African Americans in recent decades, and remind us all that, for the most part, those struggles are far from over as certain aspects of society continue to tilt and work in favour of those not of colour. Yes, the scales are far more balanced than they were, but Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom are both testament – given what we all know now – how long change can and does take to be implemented and felt by those who need, want and deserve it the most.

At a time when Black Lives Matter has been a big part of the world’s news, with protests and growing support for the movement, Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom are powerful and impactful, thought provoking reads – and ones that should, if they aren’t already, be a part of the historical and literature curriculum for students.