A.C. Smith

Chester Gregory

Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumni A.C. Smith ’86 and Chester Gregory ’95, HDR ’15, are featured in the Kansas City Repertory Theatre‘s production of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Fences, running October 13-November 5.

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America, Fences tells the gripping story of an African-American father and his sons and the hopes and dreams to which they desperately cling.

Smith, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Theatre, stars as the father, Troy, a role created on Broadway by James Earl Jones and recently portrayed on screen by Denzel Washington. Smith previously played the role in Chicago at Court Theatre, and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, Chicago’s top theatrical prize, for his lead performance.

Gregory, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Musical Theatre, plays Troy’s son Lyons. Gregory is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Columbia College Chicago, and spoke at the college’s commencement ceremony in 2015. Gregory and Smith previously worked together at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in a production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running.

For tickets to Fences at Kansas City Rep, click here.