Principal Cast announced for august wilson’s fences
August Wilson’s Fences is an American classic. Steeped in the blues and black culture it is an enduring audience favourite full of wit, beauty and tragedy. It tells the story of the Maxson family, their hopes for a better life in a changing world and the (almost) impossible challenge of breaking generational cycles.
This autumn we are premiering a brand-new production directed by Daniel Bailey (Red Pitch) in a co-production with Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and HOME Manchester. It will be the first major revival in over a decade of this American blockbuster.
PRINCIPAL CAST ANNOUNCEMENT
We are thrilled to announce today that the principal cast for this bold new production will include:
Ray Fearon
Ray Fearon is an award-winning British actor who has worked extensively on stage and in television and film. He can currently be seen in BBC/Netflix's Champion, playing Beres Champion and in the Amazon hit feature film My Fault: London. Ray will be playing the lead role of Troy, a rich and complicated character whose outlook on life has been shaped by his experiences as a sanitation worker, and his disappointment at being excluded from becoming a major league baseball star.
Ray’s film work includes: Barbie, The Cleaner, Swede Caroline, Coffee Wars, Memory, The Lady of Heaven, The Protege, Origin Unknown; The Foreigner; The Yellow Birds; Beauty and the Beast; The Hooligan Factory; Macbeth; Hamilton; Time Machine: Morlocks; The Therapist; Summer In Cape Town; Lulu and Jimi; The Chef's Letter; Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone; The Clandestine Marriage and Hamlet.
Television work includes: The Feud (series regular), Netflix/BBC's Champion (series regular); We Hunt Together, Close To Me, Semi Detached; Red Dwarf; His Dark Materials; Plebs; Fleabag; Snatch; New Blood; Da Vinci Demons (Series regular); Suspects; Moving On; Silk; Death In Paradise; Above Suspicion; Hominid: Neanderthal; Raw (series 2); Missing Karl; Doctors; Coronation Street; Revelations; Keen Eddie; Doctors; Waking the Dead; The Bill; Outside the Rules; As If (Series 2); A Christmas Carol; Band of Gold; Brothers and Sisters; Dressing For Breakfast and Prime Suspect.
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.
Madeline Appiah
Madeline is a hugely talented actor, recognisable from both stage and screen. She will be in the lead role of Rose, Troy’s wife and Cory’s mother, bringing compassion, hope and strength to the household.
Madeline’s TV and film work includes: Death in Paradise (BBC), Blood of My Blood (Starz/Sony), Black Mirror (Netflix), Jungle (Amazon Prime), In the Long Run (Sky), Elephant, King for a Term (Sky), Partners in Crime (BBC), Doctors (BBC), Gavin and Stacey (BBC), EastEnders (BBC), The Bill (ITV), Holby City (BBC).
Theatre includes: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, The Winter’s Tale, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew (RSC); Cymbeline (The Globe); Kerry Jackson, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Here We Go; Welcome to Thebes (National Theatre); Tina Turner The Musical (Aldwych); Hamlet (Harold Pinter Theatre); The Hotel Cerise (Theatre Royal Stratford); Iyalode of Eti (Utopia Theatre/Rich Mix/Arcola); In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play (St James Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic); Speechless (Shared Experience); Off the Endz (Royal Court); Mother Goose (Greenwich Theatre); It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First… (Arcola/Clean Break); Arabian Nights (New Vic); Dionysis Unbound (Bridewell Theatre); 200 Years, Cinderella (Watford Palace); The Wedding Dance (Birmingham Rep/Tour); Restoration (Oxford Stage Company); I Have Before Me… (Calypso); Brezhnev’s Children (BAC).
Michael Ahomka-Lindsay
Michael brings his many talents to the role of Lyons - Troy’s eldest son and aspiring Jazz musician.
His stage work includes: David Heard in Choir Boy (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Rudy in Miss Myrtles Garden (Bush Theatre); Jonathan in Reverberation (Bristol Old Vic); Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret (Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre); Jack Kelly in Disney’s Newsies (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre); David Heard in Choir Boy (Bristol Old Vic); Olunde in Death and the Kings Horseman (Sheffield Crucible); Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III RENT (Hope Mill Theatre); Paul Stephenson in To the Streets (China Plate & Birmingham Hippodrome); Maugrim in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (UK/Ireland Tour).
Additional credits include: Michael in Scratch That: Highlife Romance (Theatre Peckham); Michael in To Run is to Return; Pete in Stray Tales; Joseph in In a Box; Craig in Fart Car; Chris in The Cosmic Order; Shahbaz in Shielders; Jerome in Demons.
Josh Tedeku
Josh is the winner of the Royal Television Society, Best Breakthrough Award 2025 and is an Edinburgh TV Festival and MOBO Award nominated actor. He will be taking on the role of Cory, younger son and promising football player.
Josh is best known for his work on smash hit series, Supacell (Netflix), and the critically-acclaimed series, Boarders (BBC Three/Tubi).
Additional credits include: A Town Called Malice (Sky/NOW TV); Moonhaven (AMC+); Abdou Cissé’s, Festival of Slaps; The Pigs Underneath (Monkeypaw Productions); and Hindsight.
Tour Dates
August Wilson’s Fences will open at Leeds Playhouse from Friday 11 - Saturday 26 September, before touring to Associate Partner Oxford Playhouse (Wed 30 Sep - Sat 3 Oct), Lyric Hammersmith Theatre (Tue 6 - Sat 31 Oct), HOME Manchester (Tue 3 - Sat 7 Nov), and Nottingham Playhouse (Tue 10 - Sat 14 Nov).
