Dog-eats-dog on main stage
by Marcus Ma’at Atkins
“You’re only yourself when no one’s watching.”
This is one of the memorable lines quoted from the Pulitzer Prize winning stage play
“Topdog/Underdog” written by Suzi Lori Parks. It also defines a reactionary and universal trait
when it comes to surviving in a no-holds barred American socioeconomic system.
'Topdog' is currently being staged at The Gaslight Theatre in Midtown St Louis, where St
Louis Actors Studio opened its seventh season last weekend.
Directed by Elizabeth Helman, the two-actor play consists of two brothers. A straight laced
go-getter named Lincoln (played by Reginald Pierre) and the libidinous Booth (played by
Chauncy Thomas) who live in a run down flat in NYC and make a living hustling as a
continuously killed Abraham Lincoln impersonator at an arcade shooting gallery and a street
Three Card Monte dealer respectively and coming to grips of their checkered family past.
Filled with social metaphor and irony, “Topdog” delves into the psyche of the African
American man in America and how he adjusts to survival. Every detail of the dialogue mirrors
the underlying message that black freedom or economic independence was, and still is,
depended on white male assistance or die trying. Hence, Lincoln dressing up in costume in
whiteface becoming invisible his blackness or scheming people at The Three
Card Monte game--the winning card being the “two of spades,” symbolizing this analogy.
Although a bit claustrophobic in its setting and farfetched in some of its explanations of their
familial past (e.g. how they were named and why their abandonment), what gives “Topdog” its
breath are the powerful non-verbal pathos and dialogue by the two actors, with each other
and themselves, showing a sense of reality of how people act and re-act when they are not in
public and are in cohabitation.
Crude and poignant, “Topdog” is definitely a cathartic piece that is definitely one to be
reckoned with as a well-rounded thesis in the black male aesthetic from a point of view. It is a
definite must see and is worthy of Kevin Kline Award consideration.
WHEN: Friday, September 20, through Sunday, October 6
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Sundays at 3 p.m.
WHERE: The Gaslight Theater
TICKETS: Adults - $30
Students (with a valid ID) and seniors (65+) — $25
Individual tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers
1-800-982-2787. Tickets will also be available at the theater box office one hour prior to performances.
Season Tickets also available. Download a form at www.stlas.org/tickets/
Purchasing tickets in advance is encouraged as seating is limited.
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