Weales reviews Fences, commenting on the advances that Wilson has made since his previous play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Weales offers a positive review of the play.

At the end of August Wilson's Fences, the Maxsons gather for the funeral of Troy, who has dominated the family and the play. His "mixed-up" brother Gabe, who had "half his head blown away" in World War II and who believes that he has been to heaven, unlimbers the trumpet he always carries "to tell St. Peter to open the gates." There is no mouthpiece, no trumpet blast. After three increasingly desperate tries, Gabe howls in anguish and frustration. Light pours across the scene. "That's the way that go!" he says, smiling his satisfaction.

That's not really the way that go, meaning the playas a whole, but the effectiveness of the final scene is a reminder that Wilson stretches the...