i wrote the play ‘hidden fences’ because someone f*ucking had to

By Jordan Temple*, AFROPUNK Contributor

In January, amid the excitement of The Golden Globes while interviewing Pharrel, some whytladee I’ve never heard of created a movie that didn’t exist. Jenna Bush accidentally meshed the titles of two prominent black movies “Hidden Figures” and “Fences” and created “Hidden Fences”. Michael Keaton later that night made the same mistake of saying “Hidden Fences” while reading the nominees.

The flub went viral. Black Twitter made jokes and called out the bullshit of Hollywood not being able to hold two black movies in their minds at the same damn time. Actors from both movies shrugged it off or made jokes. Stephen Colbert made a trailer in which a sentient Fence becomes an astronaut. The editorial director of People and Entertainment Weekly, Jess Cagle, said “Hidden Fences” during the Oscars in February and Octavia Spencer addressed the “Hidden Fences” mix-up in March during her <em>Saturday Night Live</em> monologue.

I woke up one morning in late January and thought “I’m going to write a play about this.” I had seen and read “Fences” (the play, screenplay and movie) and had yet to see “Hidden Figures”. I wanted to reclaim that slip-up and felt like it was ripe for satire. As a kid, I watched some of the best black comedians and learned from the greats. Whether it was The Wayans with “Don’t Be A Menace To Society While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood” at the movies, “Chappelle’s Show” on TV, or my Grandmother saying “whitey” on the la-z-boy. I was born and raised in the projects in Queens, New York City, youngest of two, by a single mom, one project over from the infamous QueensBridge Housing projects. I’ve chipped my front tooth twice and clocked hours observing from my project window. I’m like the Nas of comedy.

The premise of “Hidden Fences”, in my version, is that ‘Troy’ wants to be the first black man to hit a baseball into space, and the “Hidden Figures” are gonna do the math to help get it there. The story loosely combines the two movies and uses a range of references from black movies, music, and culture into one long-burning joke that has a bunch of jokes in between. The character I play, ‘Troy,’ is a garbage man who is down on his luck. He used to be one of the best space baseball players in his youth, but never got the opportunity to play on the Moon. His wife, Rosemary, works for NASA and she demoralizes him at every turn. His son, Cory, just got a space baseball scholarship, which is much to Troy’s dismay.

This Friday, April 14th at 8p.m. (doors at 7) I am putting up my play “Hidden Fences” for the third time at LittleField in Brooklyn. The first two installments went up at The Creek and The Cave in Long Island City, and The People’s Improv Theatre, respectively to sold out, to enthusiastic crowds.

Langston Kerman of HBO’s “Insecure” will be hosting the show and “Superior Donuts”’ Jermaine Fowler will be doing a stand up set. The rest of the cast will be on your television soon enough, so see them now.

Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. You can purchase advance tickets here: Hidden Fences @ LittleField

Photo Credit: Sarah Kennedy

*Jordan Temple on Twitter