Topdog/Underdog from WSC Avant Bard is an emotionally charged wonder that leaves no stone unturned or scab safely covered. The trailblazing story by Suzan-Lori Parks rips off the social bandage taped over societal ills and dares you to peer at the murky muck that’s left raw and exposed. Two brothers, abandoned in their teenage years, named Lincoln and Booth, deal with the ramifications of that peculiar history and neglect while fending for themselves, hustling the streets and seeing how long they can keep from self-destructing.
An unexpected and sudden cast change could have sunk the production that depends so heavily on powerful actors able to handle the lightening fast dialog and emotional roller coaster. Jeremy Keith Hunter jumped in at the last minute as Lincoln delivering a masterful portrayal like he was made for the role. When he first enters, you know you’re in for a treat. He’s tall and erect, wearing the top coat and stovepipe hat from his arcade gig, eventually taking off his “white-face” make-up. With stealthy moves like a tiger, Hunter grabs attention with every glance while totally capturing the interior journey and dialog of the character. He takes you inside brother Lincoln’s head explaining and justifying why portraying the president character means so much to him, even if all he’s doing is sitting there while patrons pay to shoot him in the back of his head for grizzly cathartic entertainment.
The older brother was a premiere hustler in his day, with money, women and admiration flowing like waves of a tsunami. He was so on top of his game. He was larger than life, or so it seemed to his younger brother, Booth, played with heft by Louis E. Davis, in a role as tumultuous and juicy as they come. The adoring expression that Davis has as Booth when watching his brother demonstrate some moves is mesmerizing. To Booth, Lincoln is the maestro at Three Card Monte, and all Booth can do is watch in awe and wonder. But now that Lincoln has hit the skids of hard luck and sought refuge in Booth’s flat, Booth can hardly contain his anger and disgust and the sparks fly on parched dry kindling. It’s only a matter of time before something ignites.[ezcol_1third]
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Topdog/Underdog
closes April 13, 2019
Details and Tickets
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Time after time I‘ve watched previous productions and wondered “Why, oh Why was this awarded a Pulitzer in 2002, with Parks holding the mantle as the first African American female playwright to secure that prize for drama?” While I’m still speculating and coming to peace with the fact that I’ll probably never know for sure, this production nudged me a little closer to a glimmer of the script’s brilliance.
Topdog has a drumbeat of constant and cascading degradation, not unlike the build-up of August Wilson’s closing scene in Ma Rainey. The intimacy of the setting, the glaring gazes of the performers as they work through underlying issues in their heads, the absolute scorched earth ferociousness of their struggles and the humor interlaced between the beats all combine to create a remarkable experience.
Director DeMone Seraphin maintains the intensity, showing the relationship of the two brothers with all their faults and foibles laid out with their complexity and layers.
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Costumes (Danielle Harrow) are threadbare and worn, although in one hilarious scene Booth undresses and reveals layers of new clothing he’s heisted for them both—down to two pairs of shoes—all handled with ease. Scenic design (Nephelie Andonyadis) appeared unassuming at first, a collection of flattened cardboard boxes comprising the walls along the set and also on two sides of the theater. The innovative utility creeps up on you as the characters climb stairs into the audience to hang up attire or retrieve glasses from the compartmentalized holding spaces, not unlike the opening of the ubiquitous crates used for the 3-card Monte game. Same with lighting (John D. Alexander)—the impact is subtle at first, then before you know it, the characters are splattered in glaring reds in an emotional upheaval. Catch the projections at the very end to seal the deal—they surface subtly during the curtain call, accompanied with music by e’Marcus Harper-Short, easy to miss while exiting, and an astonishing treat to catch.
Entertaining and unsettling, Topdog/Underdog covers class, race, masculinity, demasculation of African American men, and abandonment in its massive scope of issues. Called a “tragic explosion of failed dreams” this urban fable is a demanding and ambitious piece that works only when the design elements work just right, and that’s just what happens here. The brothers’ experiences are up close and personal, they are among us, and this production brings you into the room where it happens cackling with energy, flailing hopelessness … and rage.
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks. Director: DeMone Seraphin. Cast: Louis E. Davis as Booth; Jeremy Keith Hunter as Lincoln. Set Design: Nephelie Andonyadis; Composer and Sound Designer: e’Marcus Harper-Short. Properties Designer: Liz Long . Lighting and Projections Designer: John D. Alexander. Costume Design: Danielle Harrow. Fight Choreographer: Casey Kaleba. Production Dramaturg: A. Lorraine Robinson. Associate Director: Krysta Hibbard. Assistant Director: Ashley D. Buster. Dramaturg: A. Lorraine Robinson. Production Stage Manager: Keta Newborn. Rehearsal Stage Manager: Andrew Wilkinson, Produced by WSC Avant Bard. Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson.
