'Topdog/Underdog': A must-see revival

‘TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’: Corey Hawkins & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through January 15, 2023
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.topdogunderdog.com

By David NouNou

Revisiting Suzan-Lori Parks’ 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is what could be called a brilliant revival, thanks in large part to Ms. Parks’ rhythmic writing, superb acting by Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, laser focused direction to every detail by Kenny Leon, and a claustrophobic set by Arnulfo Maldonado, bring a sharper focus than I remember from the 2002 version at the sprawling stage of the Ambassador Theatre and looser direction by George C. Wolfe.

As with all brother tales, they all seem to hark back to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. However, in this version it isn’t the proverbial good against the bad brother but the constant shifting in roles brothers play in each other’s lives. The love/hate of who is topdog and who is underdog is always evolving and never gets a resolution.

Witness at the onset Booth (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), practicing his pitch with the three-card Monte hustle atop a cardboard box propped up by two milk cartons, which he hasn’t yet mastered: The language or the movements. Enter older brother Lincoln (Corey Hawkins), his face smeared with white greasepaint, wearing a long black coat, fake beard and a long stove pipe hat dressed as Abe Lincoln, for his new job at the arcade where people can shoot him with cap guns. He has taken this job to leave behind the dangerous life of a three-card Monte conman.

The brothers live in squalor in a small apartment. They were abandoned by their parents when they were teenagers, Booth being 13, and Lincoln being 16. Their parents gave them these ironic names. When each parent left, each parent gave each child $500 to use only for desperate measures. Booth saved his; Lincoln blew it all away immediately. They have depended on each other since they were teenagers; now they are in their 30s. They struggle to make a life; Booth tries to get Linc back into the Monte game and teach him the tricks. Lincoln doesn’t want to go through that again. Thus starts the friction. In this mix, Booth has a fixation on a girl he knew, Grace. He is always waiting for her to come back to him. Connie left Lincoln years ago; she couldn’t take the pressure. The conversation about the girls gets dicey at times.

Here is where Ms. Parks brings the magic into the play. She has set up the scene, and gives the brothers a free reign with her words. Whether the brothers are loving and have fond memories of their earlier years, or are they bitter rivals for a con game. Do they look after each other or do they just play each other? Ms. Parks keeps dishing out the power struggles. This is where, director, Kenny Leon seems to ramp up the flip/flop tension with each progressive scene.

Besides watching the play, the viewer depends heavily on what the actors can deliver, and this I can easily say, you won’t see two better performances this season than from Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Both of them are cunning and sly, good or bad, topdog or underdog, their performances are absolutely spellbinding and unforgettable.

It won’t take a crystal ball to predict the Tony Award winner for Best Drama Revival of 2023, but it will take one to predict who will win Best Actor in a Drama: Corey Hawkins or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 26, 2022
Reviewed at October 25, 2022 press performance.