Topdog/Underdog, a darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity, tells the story of two brothers, Lincoln and Booth , names given to them as a joke by their father. Haunted by the past and their obsession with the street con game, three-card monte, the brothers come to learn the true nature of their history. Susan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Topdog/Underdog returns to Broadway for its 20th Anniversary production.
For all of the circularness of 'Topdog/Underdog,' Leon does a great job of finding its dramatic points. With only two actors and a room, the play serves up a harsh account of the ills faced by America's underdogs but does so with enough laughter to help the med-sin go down sweet. Gambling, cheating, stealing - you almost forget they are sins in a play this holy.
The two actors have excellent chemistry and are believable in their brotherhood and shared pain. Parks' writing-the way she builds and releases tension; constructs vivid histories out of thin air; broadens the scope of her story without ever losing sight of the people onstage-is still excellent; that won't change. But a production of Topdog/Underdog should feel like American mythology, something worthy of the text's well-earned Lincoln/Booth-Cain/Abel comparisons. The dramatic drapery Maldonado places around the studio apartment suggest something bigger, a grand veil of theatricality covering a national schism. Much of the production, however, only gets at the world's best-looking arcade exhibit.
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Yahya Abdul-Mateeh II |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Corey Hawkins |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Kenny Leon |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Topdog/Underdog |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Dede Ayite |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Kenny Leon |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play | Corey Hawkins |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Topdog/Underdog |
2023 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | Yahya Abdul-Mateen II |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Yaha Abdul-Mateen II |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Corey Hawkins |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Topdog/Underdog |
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