The Story Archive

Topdog/Underdog

Suzan-Lori Parks · 2001 CE · Play · Modern / American · Contemporary

Two Black brothers, named Lincoln and Booth by a father's joke, share a rented room: one earns his living as an arcade Abraham Lincoln in whiteface, the other practises three-card monte hoping to hustle. Their rivalry over work, women and the family inheritance tightens through a two-hander's single room. Premiered at the Public Theater in 2001, it made Parks the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer for Drama.

Open Topdog/Underdog in the archive — filters, lineage graph and full facet browsing.

Attributes

Genre
Theme
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Plot type
Symbol / motif
Conflict
Mode / tone
Culture / tradition

Closest analogues