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.
Make no mistake: After an evening on Broadway with Corey Hawkins, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and the electrifying theatrical crossfire of 'Topdog/Underdog,' you'll never again think of three-card monte as a mere money-grubbing street hustle. Thanks to the wild imagination of Suzan-Lori Parks - who won a Pulitzer Prize for the play in 2002 - the game is engineered as the centerpiece in the blistering struggle between Hawkins's Lincoln and Mateen's Booth, brothers possessing little in life and even less to hope for.
How wonderful to experience again, in the hilarious, harrowing and superbly acted Broadway revival that opened on Thursday at the Golden Theater, Parks's fearlessness. Rejecting fixed meanings, as well as the limitations and clichés of correctness, she generates themes that her play will not so much corral as set free. There's fraternal competition, as old and awful as Jacob and Esau. Race as fate but also performance. The endlessly sorrowful loop of American violence. And of course, sleight of hand: Before a minute goes by, Parks has her fingerprints all over your feelings.
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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