Topdog/Underdog
Topdog/Underdog is a play by Suzan-Lori Parks. Parks received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002 for the work.
Plot
The play chronicles the adult lives of two African American brothers, Lincoln and Booth, as they cope with women, work, poverty, gambling, racism, and their troubled upbringings. Their parents deserted the brothers when they were youngsters, and they became dependent on each other. Lincoln (in his late 30s), who had been an expert Three-card Monte player, lives with his younger brother Booth (in his early 30s), because his wife asked him to leave. He has taken a job as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator. Booth is trying to become a "card Shark", but is not successful, and turns to shoplifting.
Production history
Topdog/Underdog opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater on July 26, 2001 and closed on September 2, 2001. Directed by George C. Wolfe, Don Cheadle (as Booth) and Jeffrey Wright (as Lincoln) starred. The play opened on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre on April 7, 2002 and closed on August 11, 2002. Cheadle was replaced by Mos Def; direction was by George C. Wolfe. The play transferred to London at the Royal Court Theatre in 2003, with the same Broadway cast, and directed by Wolfe.
