The Passage Theater Company presents a play at the Suzan-Lori Parks Pulitzer Award "Topdog/Underdog" – New Jersey scene



Topdog/Underdog From the Pulitzer Prize Suzan-Lori Parks black playwright receives his Trenton, the premiere of New Jersey on Theater companyas part of its remarkable season of the 40th anniversary. The play opens on February 21, 2025 and works until March 9, 2025 at the Playhouse Mill Hill. Gloomy comic fable with brotherly love and family identity, Topdog/Underdog He tells the story of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke by their father, predicting all their lives of rivalry and resentment for brothers and sisters.

The winner of the Pulitzer Award for Drama in 2002 and the Tony Award for the best revival in 2023, Topdog/Underdog is a landmark at the American Canon Theater and celebrates Broadway’s first script in more than thirty years, which will be produced at the Passage stage. Through professional productions, educational programs and community commitment, Passion presents various votes that inspire the audience and encourage the art of live theater. The company is recognized as its commitment to creating and creating socially significant plays that deeply respond and reflect the community.

Production of Topdog/Underdog Stars Stephen St. Pierre and Anthony Vaughn Murchant respectively as the Lincoln brothers and Booth and are directed by Marcus D. Harvey. “The history of Lincoln and Butt reflects the struggles of black men in this community, who move on systemic challenges, seek identity and strive for dignity in a commonly unforgivable world,” Harvey said. “As we have lived their story, I strive to hold a mirror on the streets, homes and hearts of Trenton, inviting conversations about the brotherhood, competition and heritage that black men inherit.”

(Left) Anthony Vaughn merchant (right) Stephen St. Pierre

In the play, Lincoln and Booth were abandoned by their parents as teenagers and learned to depend on each other for survival. Now in their 30s, the brothers are struggling to escape from life of poverty. Master of the three Monte card game, Lincoln abandons a crime life by accepting work, where he poses for Abraham Lincoln in Arcade. Butt, on the other hand, wins his living as a small thief, but wants to imitate the adequacy of his bigger brother to “throw the cards”. Throughout the play, the brothers are fighting for control. At any given moment, one brother may be at the top, owning power over the other, just to give it up in the next moment.

Parks’ dramatic game deals with topics of toxic masculinity, masculinity and violence. As director, Harvey hopes to “deepen the topics of identity, family relationships, survival and masks that we, like black men, carry to navigate a world that cannot always see our full humanity. This production is an opportunity to explore the fragility of dreams, the weight of history and the human need for a connection among conflicts. It’s about asking ourselves how we reconcile the past as we carve a place for the future, “he adds.

Topdog/Underdog He made his debut in 2001 Off-Broadway with the participation of Jeffrey Wright and Don Cheell before moving to Broadway with the participation of Wright and rapper MOS Def. Both actor were directed by the legendary George K. Wolfe. The play won parks at the Pulitzer Award for Drama in 2002, making her the first black woman to receive honor (Lin Notification is the only other black playwright for women to win the Pulitzer Award in 2009 and in 2017. ). Parks is known for the challenge and review of the historical depiction of Afro -American experience in her work. She often explores complex questions about identity and competition through symbolic characters and situations.

“In fact, I saw the original production in 2001 at the Broadway Public Theater and the production of Broadway in 2002,” Harvey recalls. “I was sitting in the theater and watched two of the largest black actors, Don Cheell and Jeffrey Wright, to do it on stage for two hours. He lived in my bones. I watched the nuances and complexities of heroes (in whom) I saw my uncle, my brothers. He is still sitting with me to this day. “

Over twenty years since the premiere of the game, Topdog/Underdog Still resonates with the audience. “This is a game for what we inherit. Often, in particular in the black community, we inherit the injury to generations. So, for me, the play is relevant today, since it was 24 years ago. Every time I direct a play as a whole when I read it for the first time, I say to myself, “What kind of conversation is this play with the world now?” When the passage approaches me about directing this play in Trenton, I immediately thought about all the black men In Trenton, who have inherited a generation trauma that grieves (in silence). “

“This play is a story of Trenton,” said the executive artistic director of the Passage Brussen Miller in a statement. “Somewhere the history of the Lincoln and Butt brothers happens in Trenton while we are talking and it is time for people like them, and really all Americans demand their own humanity, even when it breaks away from our souls,” he added.

A prize artist, writer, director, teacher and cultural strategist, Harvey says that his only vision for this production is to make sure that Parks’ words live freely and comfortably in the bodies of the actors. “One of the things we talked about in rehearsal was the fact that men could not be vulnerable. And how, when you show vulnerability, you are considered weak. So what are you doing? You hold all this and then act in rage. The emotion you know most is anger, “Harvey explains. “You know how to express anger. What I find in this play is that these men or men generally cannot really express the true complexity of themselves. “

For Harvey, Topdog/Underdog It’s really a love letter to the black men. “It is a chance for me to tell them that I see you, I value you and I love you. Anyone who wants to understand the pain of the black man, the pain of the black man and the joy of the black man must come to experience this play. “

Due to language and violence, Topdog/Underdog is recommended for an audience of the age of 16 and over. The total reception is $ 30. Tickets are Available for purchase online. Playhouse Mill Hill is located at 205 E Front Street in Trenton, New Jersey.