[Topdog/Underdog focuses on] who the world thinks you’re going to be, and how you struggle with that.
– Suzan-Lori Parks, playwright of Topdog/Underdog
People think [Topdog/Underdog] is about black-on-black crime, or one brother taking out another brother. I think the play is about America.
– Kenny Leon, director of Topdog/Underdog on Broadway (2022 Tony-winning production) and at Steppenwolf (2026)
Topdog/Underdog, written by Suzan-Lori Parks, has been deemed one of the best and most well-written plays of our century. Premiered in 2001 at the Public Theatre off-Broadway, then transferred to Broadway in 2002, and further to London’s West End in 2003, the play is a testament to modern theatre. The play was revived on Broadway in 2022 and won Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play, as well as nominations for Best Leading Actor in a Play.
Mentored by James Baldwin at The John Carroll School, Parks had already released seven plays by the time she published Topdog/Underdog in 2001. When she received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play, Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to win the prestigious award, marking her as one of the generation’s top playwrights.
While I could go on and on about the history and impact of this play within theatrical spheres, I find the words of both Suzan-Lori Parks and critically acclaimed director Kenny Leon, who directed the Broadway revival and the Steppenwolf production, on the meaning and focus of the play to be all the more impactful. As a student at The Theatre School, I had the opportunity to see the Steppenwolf production directed by Kenny Leon and starring The Theatre School BFA Acting alum Glenn Davis, and to attend a talkback with Leon as part of the “A Talk with” series TTS hosts. Among discussing his start as a director, artist, and theatre-maker, Leon shared his takes on the focus of Topdog/Underdog. Leon touched on how, while on the surface, this story is about two brothers, sibling rivalry, and a lifetime of resentment coming to a head, the play is, in Leon’s words, “the play is about America, and about how the foundation doesn’t support us or our dreams.” Hence, when one walks into the Steppenwolf Downstairs theatre to see Topdog/Underdog, you are greeted with a curtain patterned as an American flag drenched in gold. Leon believes that America has “lost [its] way,” and that this play brings perspective not only through the text and dynamics, but also through the symbolism of the gold-dipped American flag, and shows how, within American culture and society, wealth “becomes the most important thing, like the gold or the material [of the curtain].” Suzan-Lori Parks’s words reflect the similar focus throughout her piece. In an interview with NJ.com, Parks says her Pulitzer Prize-winning play is “about what it means to be family” and the depth and meaning of true connection within a family, while also examining the American dream. The play questions what drives the American dream and what priorities one turns to to achieve it.
If you have the chance to see Togdog/Underdog, take it. Go sit in the audience and experience a play that questions, examines, and critiques the American experience. I implore you to question, critique, and examine your relationship to America and familial ties within the conditions of the American dream.
Until the curtain rises again…
Sources Referenced
Brandman, Mariana. “Suzan-Lori Parks.” Suzan-Lori Parks Biography, http://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/suzan-lori-parks.
Harms, Talaura. “Broadway Revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog Closes January 15.” Playbill, Playbill, 13 Jan. 2023, playbill.com/article/broadway-revival-of-suzan-lori-parks -topdog-underdog-closes-january-15.
Reich, Ronnie. “‘Topdog/Underdog’: A Playwright Interpreting Her Own Words – Nj.Com.” NJ.Com, http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/2012/09/topdogunderdog_a_ playwright_in.html.
“Suzan-Lori Parks | the Pulitzer Prizes.” The Pulitzer Prizes, http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/ suzan-lori-parks.
@thetheatreschool, “”Just be in chapter one. Be present. Do all you can, and it’ll keep moving to that next thing.”: Instagram, 22 Sept 2026, https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddm1y T6lkDf/?img_index=1.
About the Author
Hi! My name is Sara Elise Faunce and I am a senior BFA Acting major at The Theatre School. I aim to envelop my passions, enthusiasm, and steadfastness into every aspect of my career, whether through a performance on stage, on film, or through a video game. My love of dual-sided characters, weird voices, eleven o’clock musical numbers, and magical worlds lets me create joy and conversation, as I aim to reach people and invite them to converse and question through the art of storytelling. @saraelisef
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