Two African-American brothers, jokingly named Lincoln and Booth by their father, are living together in New York.
The rundown basement apartment they live in is Booth’s – somehow – and he’s allowing Lincoln to sleep on an old, battered recliner chair. But Linc the Stink is bringing in the money, performing as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator at a local fairground. Customers pay to re-enact Honest Abe’s assassination, pretending to shoot the older brother in the head. Day after day.
Younger
brother Booth has been practicing the classic three-card monte scam, but he’s
struggling with his flow. No, actually, he can talk a good game, but he’s not
smooth with the shuffling of the cards. And he’s not sure where to look. When
Lincoln surprises him dressed in his work costume – make-up, full beard and hat,
Booth pulls a gun.
Don’t do
that shit, don’t do that shit. Don’t do that shit!
Having a
gun in their house is natural. Linc doesn’t blink. Booth is far more upset that
his brother is still playing the dead President. Why pretend to be an old white
guy? The cash is answer enough.
Booth begs Linc
to teach him his skills with the cards, but the older brother bites back – he
doesn’t do that anymore. He’s sworn off it. But it’s clear Booth wants to
emulate his older brother’s style. Besides, he’s trying to impress his girl,
Grace, and scraping together a share of Linc’s pay after he budgets for bills
won’t get him very far.
Suzan-Lori
Parks’ 2001 play is a deep dive into a complicated familial relationship. The
brothers’ parents left them to fend for themselves when they were still kids.
They are close, but their vibe is often fractious. Boys who have never really
grown up. Boys who have survived on the streets for years now and that’s their
sole focus – how to get through the next day.
This
two-hour two-hander is skilfully constructed. And just like three-card monte,
Parks is distracting you, but not with typical dramatic twists and turns. In Topdog/Underdog,
the playwright wants the audience to hope the brothers will find the right card
and avoid their fate. Fate cemented by names given to them by their absentee
father without a second thought.
Topdog/Underdog premiered at the Public Theater in
2001, starring Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright, and went to Broadway the
following year, with Mos Def replacing Cheadle. It won the Pulitzer Prize ** for
Drama in 2002, with Parks being the first African-American woman to win the
award. She’s been nominated for the prize two other times and with the 2023
revival of this play, she won her first Tony Award.
The MTC production is the directorial debut of actor Bert Labonté, who has appeared on stage with the company many times over the years. I think having a strong actor at the helm was the perfect choice. Labonté has shepherded the show through its shifting tones with real mastery. A remarkably assured debut.
Damon Manns is commanding as Lincoln, not just because of his height, but because he imbues
the character with the right mix of vulnerability and strength. Lincoln is more
thoughtful and considered, but when his brother starts to get out of hand, he
stands firm and won’t back down.
Ras-Samuel
is perfect in the role of Booth, bringing a chaotic, chameleonic approach to
the character. We see his insecurities and pain at moments, but more often than
not he’s all physicality – jumping rope, doing pull-ups, dancing or rehearsing
his moves in anticipation of impressing Grace.
Sophie
Woodward’s set is perfectly drab, with a cracked linoleum floor and a sense the
place has never been cleaned. Her striking costumes – particularly a pair of
recently boosted suits – pop against the monochromatic backdrop.
Rachel Lee’s lighting creates bubbles of isolation for the characters, but more strikingly, squares of light, moving across the space to suggest the passing sun peeking through ground-level windows.
Dan West’s
sound design supports the tension of the two brothers
squaring off without artificially amping it up or pushing it over the top.
Parks’ play is a masterful experience of rhythm and conflict. It’s a modern-day classic of the American stage and the MTC production is muscular and energetic, tense and devastating. The intimate Lawler theatre is perfect for this one-room story. With the audience on three sides, as if betting on three-card monte, hoping - in the end - the right card will get picked.
Lean in close and watch me now: who see the black card, who see the black card - black cards the winner.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Topdog/Underdog is playing at the Southbank Theatre until September 21
Photos: Sarah Walker
** Late 2024 at Melbourne Theatre Company is wall-to-wall Pulitzer winners, from A Streetcar Named Desire to English and soon Cost of Living.
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