"Fences" opened on Broadway in 1987, winning the Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actor (James Earl Jones), and Best Featured Actress (Mary Alice). A revival of "Fences" opened in 2010, winning the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor Denzel Washington, and Best Actress (Viola Davis). All five adult actors reprise their roles in this film adaptation, with Washington also directing.
Denzel Washington and Spike Lee did uncredited treatments on August Wilson's original screenplay in pre-production. Washington also did even more numerous rewrites on set. Denzel requested to go uncredited to honor Wilson and to ensure Wilson would be the only writer to receive any recognition and awards.
In 2017, August Wilson received a posthumous Oscar nomination for his 'Fences' screenplay, adapted from his own play. Wilson, the only credited writer, passed away in 2005. After Wilson's death, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, and playwright Tony Kushner all did uncredited revisions of the screenplay.
Fences was originally a 1983 play by August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Like all of the "Pittsburgh" plays, Fences examines race relations and explores the evolving African-American experience, among other themes. In 1987, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
Viola Davis's performance was campaigned as "Supporting" during awards season, though this placement was seen as category fraud by some awards pundits. In an interview with Deadline, Denzel Washington said he disagreed with the placement, but that this was Davis' own decision, which would improve her chances of winning.