Ray Fearon is an award-winning British actor who has worked extensively on stage and in television and film. In theatre he has worked as a leading actor with the RSC (Associate Artist), Donmar Warehouse, Almeida Theatre, the National Theatre and the Globe to name but a few, and his film work ranges from movies including the 2013 National Theatre Live production of Macbeth, the live action Disney film Beauty and the Beast, Hamlet, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and more recently as FBI Dan in the Barbie movie and in the Amazon hit, My Fault: London.
Ray plays one of the main characters in the BBC/Netflix show, Champion, and other television roles include those in Coronation Street, Red Dwarf, Plebs, His Dark Materials, Silk, and Waking the Dead and many more. This month, he’ll be coming to Oxford to star in a new production of August Wilson’s seminal play, Fences. We wanted to know…
What Makes Ray
Happy:
Seeing my children first thing in the morning and listening to happy music.
Sad:
I lost my father 25 years ago on 17 August. So, although August can be happy in the early parts because it is my birthday month, I can also feel sad remembering my father and him being buried in August.
Angry:
I get angry when I see or witness injustice in the world, particularly innocent people being killed in war.
Reflective:
I am always reflective on my past because of the characters I study when doing film, TV and theatre. You try to identify the similarities you have with a character in your own life, so you are always reflecting on your own life and the past.
I also reflect on my life before having my children and see how much I have matured… not much but I have moved the dial slightly!
Confident:
I am always confident when I am prepared, and less so when I am not.
Creative:
I am most creative with an ensemble of people, which you mainly find in a theatre environment. Theatre is my first love so that is where I am most creative.
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Ray Fearon will be starring in August Wilson’s 1985 Pulitzer Prize winning play, Fences, at Oxford Playhouse. The theatre is delighted to be hosting their associate partner, Headlong, for this brand-new production of the American blockbuster by one of America’s most influential writers of the twentieth century.
Directed by the award-winning Daniel Bailey, it presents a portrait of love and grief and considers what it means to be a family in post-war Black America. Ray Fearon takes on the role of Troy, with Madeline Appiah (In the Long Run, Sky, The Winter’s Tale, RSC, Tina Turner The Musical, West End) as his wife, Rose.
Set against the backdrop of the 1950s, Fences is alive with rhythms of blues and jazz as it explores timeless themes including masculinity, motherhood, music and the abiding hope for a different future. Troy Maxson has cheated death once, but the past keeps closing in. On Pittsburgh’s streets, he cracks jokes and spins stories, yet at home, the pressure is building. His wife, Rose holds the family together. She sees a changing world and hopes their son Cory might step into it with more freedom than Troy ever had. But when dreams collide, and tempers flare, the Maxson's edge towards a reckoning that could reshape everything they know.
30 September-3 October
August Wilson’s Fences at The Oxford Playhouse
directed by Daniel Bailey, starring Ray Fearon, Madeline Appiah, Michael Ahomka-Lindsay and Josh Tedeku
To book tickets, contact the Box Office on 01865 305305 or visit oxfordplayhouse.com
