Sunday, October 2, 2022

Topdog/Underdog (4*)


Call it Greek tragedy for a generation weaned on hip-hop, which blasts before and after the performance, and during the intermission.  Lincoln and Booth, two down and out African-American brothers-- brilliantly portrayed by Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Matteen II--just want what everyone wants but this kitchen-sink drama demonstrates that their options for achieving the American dream are limited to three-card monte and "boosting" (shoplifting).  Sibling rivalry fuels their often very funny exchanges and the Suzan-Lori Parks who, with this work, was the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, obeys Chekhov's dictum:  if a gun appears in the first act, it must go off in the second. 

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