Topdog/Underdog
by Suzan-Lori Parks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Suzan-Lori ParksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-02-04
ISBN: 1559362014
Number of pages: 110
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
Book Reviews of Topdog/Underdog
Book Review: STUNNING AND BRILLIANT
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, I just read the review from the person who gave this play 2 stars, and would just like to note that he/she admitted that they HAD NOT SEEN THE PLAY. Last week, I was given the amazing opportunity of attending the LONDON PREMIER in the second row, and then meeting the author and the two actors. All I can say is, it was the most stunning piece of theater I have seen in years! In London, I saw "Edmund" with Kenneth Branaugh and "Brand" with Ralph Fiennes, and although the acting was phenomenal and both stories compelling, I still couldn't help but look at my watch once or twice. In Topdog/Underdog, the dialogue was so lighting-fast, the chemistry between the actors was so electric, and the story so compelling that I did not look away from the stage once!!! I had read the play before and had liked it, but on stage the play just came alive. There was so much humor that I had missed before(people were laughing every minute), poignancy(I cried at the end), and finally, so much TRUTH. As Parks mentioned, she did not write this play with a single theme in mind, instead, this play can reach so many elements of her audience...in can touch on sibling rivalry, our past, family ties and connection to history, family wounds and healing, the fine line between truth and reality, loving a woman, etc. And as Parks said, she did not write this play for any audience in mind, but for her two characters, to give them a chance to inhabit the stage. I am glad she did, for the performances by Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright were some of the finest I have seen. Furthermore, the fact that a story with only two characers, who remain in the same set the whole play, was able to captivate for the whole play, really speaks of the works brilliance. Also, reading the play at first may seem confusing, because it is almost rap-like, but watching it really allows one to see how the words are like poetry. The music is awesome too, and the whole feel of the play is hip, modern, but very true. Simply brilliant-please see this, or at least read it, and have an open mind.
Summary of Topdog/Underdog
A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity is Suzan-Lori Parks latest riff on the way we are defined by history. The play tells the story of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Haunted by the past, the brothers are forced to confront the shattering reality of their future.
Suzan-Lori Parks is the author of numerous plays, including In the Blood and Venus. She is currently head of the A.S.K. Theater Projects Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.
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