Review: Intimate ‘Topdog/Underdog’ lacks the necessary tension to tell its story
Early in the first scene of ‘Topdog/Underdog,’ the historical figure of Lincoln makes a startling entrance. Cleverly lit, his chalk-white face glimmers between his characteristic black necktie and black top hat as he stands for a moment and gazes at the scene in front of him. It’s an arresting image that holds your attention and sets up the expectation of tensely dramatic disclosures ahead. Unfortunately, the current production at Main Stage West does not meet that expectation.
‘Topdog/Underdog’ by Suzan-Lori Parks tells the story of two brothers living perilously close to the poverty line in a tiny, dingy apartment. Lincoln and Booth, whimsically named by their long-absent father, are black. Lincoln is employed down at the local arcade to play his namesake, President Lincoln, in whiteface while visitors to the arcade enjoy pretending to assassinate him by shooting guns with blank bullets. Booth, younger by several years, is unemployed but dreams of being a successful card hustler as his brother used to be. He is also an accomplished shoplifter. Behind their current fates are achingly sad stories of the parents (and society) who abandoned them and the endless deprivations, discriminations, injustices and temptations that come with being poor, black, male and mostly invisible in urban America.
Main Stage West is a tiny theater: the word ‘intimate’ barely does it justice. It presents the perfect opportunity for actors to employ every non-verbal skill they possess to hint at the untold stories within the story, the complex and tangled feelings simmering under the surface of what they say. It’s also the perfect setting for creating an intensely claustrophobic world where tension builds almost palpably, leading to the inevitable explosions of rage, fear and grief that engulf players and audience members alike. In short, it’s the kind of environment that this tightly wound two-person play was made for and in the hands of skilled actors, it can be a highly charged experience.
Neither Keene Hudson, who plays Lincoln, nor D’Artagnan Riviera, who plays Booth, were able to rise to the challenges during the performance I attended. Riviera, in particular, expressed his frustrations almost always by raising his voice; especially when the audience is less than a stone’s throw away, shouting with anger in the early scenes was both unnecessary and from an acting standpoint left him nowhere to build towards in later scenes. He had also not yet mastered all his lines, which no doubt hampered his performance on this occasion. Hudson was more nuanced in his approach with some understanding of the inherent power of stillness, and his card-throwing monologues hinted at a more lived-in inner life. But both actors missed the opportunities offered by intimate theater to tell their stories with a glance or movement that might have spoken volumes.
I am never an advocate for pre-casting, which at its worst smacks of the kind of cronyism that gives local theater a bad name, but I will suggest that if a theater company wants to produce a play like ‘Topdog’ that depends so thoroughly on its two central performances, it’s as well to have confidence in the talent pool from which you will have to cast it. ‘Topdog’ is also a long play, and as I mentioned in a different review recently, more than two hours is a long time for two actors to carry a show under any circumstances. Some judicious editing might have improved this production, which lasted two hours and thirty-five minutes with only one intermission. As a side note, I’m also frankly baffled by how many times I apparently needed to see one or other character change his pants in front of me, which came close to straying into farce territory.
‘Topdog’ is clearly intended to highlight the experience of the Black man in America and I wanted to understand and reflect on the larger themes being presented. Unfortunately, I was too distracted by the up-close details of the performances to consider the bigger picture. When the final scene wrapped up, with more of a whimper than a bang, I felt some sadness at the inevitability of it all, but what I mostly felt was relief.
‘Topdog/Underdog’ runs until October 30 at Main Stage West, Sebastopol. Tickets and performance times at: www.mainstagewest.com
