Topdog/Underdog [Paperback]

 

 

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About the only thing I wanted to do after seeing this was demand my money back. This has to be one of the most unimaginative plays I have ever seen. It reminded me of a really bad Saturday night live parody meets Friday part 2 but at the end the writer tried to make it poingnant by adding a death. I don't know why this was even printed. If I was a tree that lost my life to print this play I would come back as a ghost a haunt the publisher till his dying day.

I'll be brief. This play reads well on the page ... it is intense and in-your-face daring. On stage (done well, as I recently saw it the Oregon Shakespeare Festival) it is breathtaking. Amazing. Unique. Startling. Touching. Unexpectedly real & funny. It won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize and it is obvious why. It is an "African American play" but these brothers could be any ethnicity and it would still pack the same punch. In other words: Don't let reviews talking about "stereotypes" disuade you from experiencing this amazing work for yourself.

I'll make this quick. Saw it. Read it. Hated it. This was required reading for my dramatic theory class last semester and bonus points for having seen it. It was very tense and exhausting in the beginning. More tense and exhausting towards the middle and by the end I was ready to yell out "shoot the Son of a #$%^& already and end this so I can so home and do something productive." In 10 years when people are considering what plays to revive from the past this play will have been long forgotten save for the fact that it was written by an African american writer, which is all fine and great but is not solid ground within itself to merit te rave reviews it has recieved from certain members of the press. All in all I suggest NOT seeing this play or reading it if you value your sanity. It is extreamly mindless and boring.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Ehhhh.... why bother?
To avoid repeat, I will avoid giving a recap of the work itself. I did see the play in L.A. not too long ago and really I wasn't that impressed. Read more

Published on Mar 22 2004 by Blackbeltjones

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Theater
Saw this play last night at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Yes, it's obvious where the story was going. (Parks didn't choose the character name's by accident. Read more

Published on Mar 16 2004 by carsondyle

4.0 out of 5 stars The divisive Pulitzer Prize winner
Since there are a lot of negative reviews here, I thought I'd throw in my two cents. I just got around to reading the play, which I was sad to have missed on Broadway. Read more

Published on Mar 10 2004 by J. Ott

1.0 out of 5 stars A steer in a speckled pasture
Unless you are Chekov, writing an entire play about planning to do something that never happens is bloody boring quite frankly. Read more

Published on Jan 25 2004 by David Mistmoore

1.0 out of 5 stars Just a Dog
I am a casual reader of drama and a casual theater-goer; so take my opinion here for what it is worth. I picked up Topdog/Underdog because it had won a Pulitzer Prize. Read more

Published on Jan 2 2004 by Peter Koonz

1.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!! What a piece of #%@!
I think I have it all figured out. The gods of the theatre today have decided that good storytelling, clever dialouge and well developed characters are no longer neccesary... Read more

Published on Dec 17 2003 by Jimmy

2.0 out of 5 stars Amateurish and unoriginal
I recall working as a script reader for a major regional theatre, and if this play had crossed my desk, it would have definitely gone in the reject pile. Read more

Published on Nov 30 2003 by JackOfMostTrades

3.0 out of 5 stars Lessons re-learned.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize winning play, Topdog Underdog, shows the strength of Parks' ability to write convincing dialogue, to develop memorable characters and in the... Read more

Published on Oct 20 2003 by Jessica Ferguson

2.0 out of 5 stars Painful to watch
I recently saw this in New York. And quite frnkly i don't see what the big deal is about. I could have gone down to Nostrum in Brooklyn and picked up better more intelligent... Read more

Published on Aug 29 2003 by greta

5.0 out of 5 stars STUNNING AND BRILLIANT
Ok, I just read the review from the person who gave this play 2 stars, and would just like to note that he/she admitted that they HAD NOT SEEN THE PLAY. Read more

Published on Aug 18 2003

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