Review: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG Rises to the Top at Celebration Arts

 Celebration Arts’ season of Black Girl Magic continues with its production of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work in 2002. In 2023 it won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Celebrations Arts’ portrayal of this multi-layered work is a testament to their commitment to quality storytelling. Parks’ rich dialogue between two brothers, who are simultaneously at odds and codependent, transcends race and time. This show, however, focuses on the experiences of two African American brothers whose circumstances leave them fighting for survival. The first act moves a little slowly, with the audience getting to know the men – Lincoln and Booth. Shakespeare famously asked, “What’s in a name?” Well, a lot. Lincoln works, ironically, as Abraham Lincoln in whiteface in an arcade. His job is to pretend he is watching a play at a theatre and let patrons “shoot” him. Booth’s only ambition is to not work an honest day in his life. He wants to become a three-card monte card sharp, but lacks the requisite skills to do so.

Just as Lincoln has to act daily, we see the brothers engaging in their own play. They are in a pas de deux of competition and festering resentments. Booth thinks Lincoln is an Uncle Tom. Lincoln thinks Booth is lazy. Both are angry with the heavy emotional load their parents left them with.

The second act picks up nicely, with the action predictably reaching its peak at the end. Booth needs to tie up loose ends with his love interest, Grace, while Lincoln worries about being replaced at work by a wax dummy. Conrad Crump plays Lincoln just as he should: a little bit of older-brother superiority mixed with exasperation at his sibling’s lack of ambition. He’s a wonderfully believable drunk, yet also convincingly sincere in his efforts to better himself. Donald Lacy III’s desperation as Booth is both heart-wrenching and disheartening. I was rooting for him to succeed, to put down the cards and take Lincoln’s advice to get an honest job. I was cheering him on to ignore the voices from the past and the pressures from the street and the call of easy money. I was silently telling him that he is not, as he has felt his entire life, an underdog. Except, he is. Circumstances too tall to climb keep him falling down again and again. 

This piece shows us that sometimes, when we are an underdog, we need to claw our way up and out from beneath the barriers that keep us down. When we are marginalized, the paths that lead to being the top dog aren’t smooth. TOPDOG/UNDERDOG is not only a timely social commentary, it’s a sobering look into familial relationships and the consequences of our choices.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG plays at Celebration Arts through June 30th. For tickets and more information, please visit celebrationarts.net.

Photo credit: Jonathan Martinez

To post a comment, you must register and login.