JAMES EARL JONES LEAPS ‘FENCES’

James Earl Jones is back on Broadway--in a play that didn’t get quite the reviews that he did. But “Fences” should run awhile.

It’s by August Wilson, author of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (coming to the Los Angeles Theatre Center later this spring). Set in the 1950s, it concerns a garbage man (Jones) whose son (Courtney A. Vance) wants to become a pro athlete--an ambition denied him 20 years ago.

The clash of father and son leads to a scene that clears the fences, according to the Broadway critics. Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the play had given him one of the richest experiences he had ever had in the theater, and Howard Kissell of Woman’s Wear Daily called it a “blockbuster.”

The Washington Post’s David Richards said that “the play has compelling moments when the festering anger pierces the atmosphere, rendered sooty by racism and the (Pittsburgh) smokestacks. At the same time, the drama tends to leap over crucial developments in the story.”

But Richards was blown away by Jones’ “elemental force on the stage. If in the past he has sometimes skirted the treacherous shoals of pomposity, he avoids them completely here.”

Frederic R. Winship, UPI: “All the pressures on black manhood come under scrutiny in ‘Fences.’ Jones is superb, catching the hardness and softness that is Troy’s emotional mix. . . . This is (his) finest performance since ‘The Great White Hope.”’

Frank Rich of the New York Times thought it Jones’ best role including “The Great White Hope. “ It looks as if “Fences” will stand.

Linda Winer of Newsday also liked “Fences,” but pointed out that Jones and the company have been playing it in resident theater for almost two years, in New Haven, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle.

“The fact is that some American playwrights would rather postpone having their work seen in New York for as long as they possibly can, given the brutality of the climate around here. With the stakes so high, we may be missing out on all the fun.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Mayor Clint Eastwood in USA Today on the subject of progress, “It takes work to keep things the same.”