![]() ![]() 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. The latest revival of the Pulitzer-prize winning two-hander is hysterical, tragic and above all sincere. A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity is Suzan-Lori Parks latest riff on the way we are defined by history. On another note, the fact that Booth lies to his brother about the Three-Card Monte table indicates that for some reason he doesn’t want Lincoln to know that he was practicing dealing cards. But there is nothing stale about Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog. ![]() What’s more, that Lincoln suggests Booth change his name to “Shango” hints at the nature of Booth’s personality, since Shango is typically known for his rage and fury. After all, many African-Americans have changed their names in the past in order to renounce the Anglicized names given to their ancestors by slave owners. Topdog/Underdog, Suzan-Lori Parks’s tour de force, wears its own puffy coat: it’s a poetic Passion play in which the metaphorical crucifix is American history, dressed as a realistic. Second of all, Lincoln’s suggestion that Booth change his name to Shango suggests that he-Lincoln-is attuned to the effects of the painful history of slavery on a person’s identity. First of all, the photo album emerges as an important representation of a past about which the audience hasn’t yet learned, though whatever it contains is clearly significant to Booth and Lincoln, since it’s the only book (or book-like object) in the entire apartment. The brothers’ interesting relationship with history-both personal and otherwise-comes to the forefront in this moment. ![]()
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