Fences

Has the word “Oscar” been thrown around enough lately in regards to Denzel Washington and Viola Davis’s Fences? No? We can keep saying it some more? Good. The latest trailer for the film, adapted from August Wilson’s play and directed by Washington himself, shows off the kind of vibrant acting that these two won Tonys for in the first place.

What’s in a poster? It might seem simple enough — photograph the stars in a flattering light, find an inoffensive font, call it a day and crack open a cold one — but ad executives don’t get paid what I assume is a million dollars an hour for nothing. (Everyone on Mad Men ended up so rich, and that was at 1968 rates!) Careful consideration from the designers makes each poster into a fully-analyzable text packed with unspoken meaning, and the new one-sheet for Denzel Washington’s upcoming drama Fences is no exce

The Oscar season chatter may only just be kicking off, but trust me, you’ll be hearing that “O” word a lot when it comes to Denzel Washington’s ‘Fences.’

Turn back the clock to 2010, and the hottest ticket on Broadway is a revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer-winning play Fences, a poignant and daring meditation on race relations in America with a focus on the hardships of the black experience. It has all the necessary qualifications for a bona fide Broadway smash: a handsome pedigree of awards and acclaim (the production took the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2010), urgent social significance, and some Hollywood talent slumming it on the boards in between film projects. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis starred as the married couple at the heart of Fences, winning raves and a Tony apiece, and created a rare sensation that dazzled audiences for thirteen weeks and then vanished.