Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the most influential American playwrights of her generation. In 2002, Topdog/Underdogearned Parks the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, making her the first Black woman to receive the honor. More than two decades later, the play continues to resonate as a story of brotherhood, survival, race, history, and the complicated games we play with one another—and ourselves.

These interviews offer a deeper look at Parks’ creation of Topdog/Underdog, her distinctive approach to writing, and why Lincoln and Booth’s story continues to speak to audiences.

“From the Public to a Pulitzer” — Playbill
Parks talks about the origins ofTopdog/Underdog, including the moment when watching a three-card monte game on Canal Street helped unlock the play. She discusses how the hustle became intertwined with the relationship between Lincoln and Booth—and how an idea about two brothers grew into one of her defining works.
Read the interview

“Suzan-Lori Parks Reflects on 20 Years ofTopdog/Underdog” — New York Theatre Guide
Looking back two decades after the play’s original Broadway production, Parks reflects on writing Topdog/Underdog, its journey from downtown New York to Broadway, and what it means to encounter Lincoln and Booth again twenty years later.
Read the interview

“The Art of Theater No. 18: Suzan-Lori Parks” — The Paris Review
Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins speaks with Parks about her life, writing process, theatrical language, history, music, and the evolution of her extraordinary body of work. The conversation provides a broader window into the artist behindTopdog/Underdog and her singular approach to making theatre.
Read the interview

THE AMERICAN DREAM: LUCK, SKILL & SURVIVAL

Lincoln and Booth are both trying to get ahead, but they have very different ideas about how to do it. One chooses a steady paycheck; the other dreams of mastering the hustle. Topdog/Underdog asks a very American question: How much of success comes from hard work and talent—and how much depends on the hand you were dealt?

“Americans Are Split Over the State of the American Dream” — Pew Research Center
A fascinating snapshot of how Americans think about the American Dream today. Only about half say it is still possible, and people's answers change significantly depending on income and age. It offers a contemporary lens for Lincoln and Booth's very different attempts to get ahead.
Explore what Americans think about the American Dream

“Economic Prospects Brighten for Children of Low-Income Black Americans” — Harvard Gazette
Research on economic mobility and the complicated relationship between race, class, neighborhood, and opportunity. It connects directly to one of the questions hanging over Lincoln and Booth: How much control do we really have over where we end up?
Dig into the research on race, class and economic mobility

“Examining the Black-White Wealth Gap” — Brookings Institution
A clear overview of how slavery, segregation, housing discrimination, and unequal access to wealth continue to shape economic opportunity. Useful context for a play in which money, work, security, and getting ahead are constantly on the brothers' minds.
Learn more about the history behind the racial wealth gap

BLACK IDENTITY, HISTORY & THE WEIGHT OF AMERICAN MYTH

Parks names her two Black brothers Lincoln and Booth—and then has Lincoln earn his living dressing as Abraham Lincoln while customers pretend to assassinate him. American history isn't just in the background of Topdog/Underdog. The brothers inherit it, perform it, joke about it, and struggle to define themselves within it.

“Popular and Pervasive Stereotypes of African Americans” — National Museum of African American History & Culture
An accessible look at how stereotypes of Black Americans were created and reinforced throughout U.S. history. Its discussion of stereotypes surrounding Black men adds another layer to the ways Lincoln and Booth perform masculinity, sexuality, power, and success.
Explore the history of Black stereotypes in America

“How Black Men Changed the World” — Smithsonian Magazine
Connected to the Smithsonian's Men of Change exhibition, this article pushes against narrow stereotypes of Black men and explores the many ways Black masculinity, identity, creativity, and power have been represented in America.
Meet the men—and ideas—behind Men of Change

“The ‘Con’ in Conspiracy: Racial Violence as Political Assassination in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Topdog/Underdog” — MELUS / Oxford Academic
For those wanting to really dig deeper, this essay focuses directly on the play, exploring Parks' use of Lincoln and Booth, assassination, racial violence, and American history.
Take a deeper dive into Parks, race and American history

GAMES OF CHANCE & SYSTEMS OF POWER

Three-card monte looks like a game of luck and skill, but it's really a con: the dealer controls the game while convincing the mark that winning is possible. In Topdog/Underdog, Parks turns the hustle into something much bigger—a way of looking at money, ambition, power, and the seductive belief that if you learn to play well enough, you can beat the system.

“How Do Big-City Shell Games and Three-Card Monte Games Work?” — HowStuffWorks
A quick, accessible explanation of exactly how three-card monte works—and why the person placing the bet isn't really playing a fair game at all. It's a useful primer for understanding just how carefully Parks chose the central game of the play.
See how the three-card monte hustle works

“How Con Artists Work” — HowStuffWorks
A broader look at confidence games and the psychology that makes them work. The con depends not just on tricking someone, but on making the mark believe they understand the game and are choosing to play it.
Go inside the psychology of a confidence game

“What Is and What Ain't: Topdog/Underdog and the American Hustle” — Modern Drama
A deeper scholarly reading connecting three-card monte, hustling, money, performance, and the larger American economic system. It asks whether the hustle is limited to Lincoln's card table—or whether the world outside operates by some of the same rules.
Dig deeper into Topdog/Underdog and the American hustle

1. Who is the “topdog” and who is the “underdog”? When do you see those roles switch?
2. Lincoln and Booth clearly love each other—but they also know exactly how to hurt each other. Where did you feel their love most? Where did you feel the danger?
3. Do you think either brother has a real chance to become someone different? Why or why not?
4. Three-card monte looks like a game you can win, even though the dealer controls the outcome. Where else in the play does it feel like the game might be rigged?
5. Lincoln makes a living impersonating Abraham Lincoln and being “assassinated” over and over. What did that image mean to you? How does race complicate it?
6. Both brothers spend a lot of time trying to prove who they are. When do you think they’re putting on an act—for other people, for each other, or for themselves?
7. How do Lincoln and Booth think a man is supposed to act? What do those expectations cost them?
8. Grace and the brothers’ parents never appear onstage, but they have a huge presence in the story. How do these absent people shape what happens between Lincoln and Booth?
9. How much of what Booth tells Lincoln—and himself—do you believe? Does it matter whether his stories about Grace are true?
10. What does Topdog/Underdog say about the American Dream? Do either of these brothers ever really have a fair chance to win?

Curated by the Denver Public Library

The Denver Public Library recommends these library resources to enhance your theatre experience of Topdog/Underdog 

READ  

Playing to the End: Elder Black Men, Placemaking, and Dominoes in Denver by Steve Bialostok

Take a place at the card table with a group of older Black men who gather regularly to play dominoes in one of Denver’s recreation centers, creating camaraderie and poking fun at each other. In another world, Lincoln and Booth could have been one of these men. The card room is a safe place, one of defiance in the struggle for autonomy in the changing Park Hill neighborhood. Through humor and card play, they explore the social issues that extend beyond their neighborhood and have roots throughout American history.

Bonus book recommendation: The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are by Tariq Trotter. Trotter, better known by his stage name Black Thought as the MC of The Roots, writes of loss, art, community, and family. The loss of his childhood home – he accidentally burned down his house at age six – and the loss of both his parents shaped him. Poetic and vulnerable from a talented musician.

WATCH        

Heels, Season 1 (2022)

If you liked the sibling tension of the play, watch this TV show about two brothers in the wrestling world who are scripted rivals in the ring while at home they war over their late father's wrestling legacy. You’ll find family drama, complex identities, and conflict in eight episodes.

LISTEN  

Cabin in the Sky by De La Soul

Lincoln and Booth are still dealing with being abandoned by their parents while Cabin in the Sky handles the death of one of the group’s founding members. The album is bright and world weary all at once, conceptually about the afterlife, honest and exposed, yet irreverent. Appreciate it for the entertainment or the social commentary.

DOWNLOAD  

The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis

The numbers racket was part of the lucrative shadow economy in the lives of Black Americans who hoped and hustled to a better life. Davis recalls her mother, one of the few women who led the illegal lottery in the 1970s, placing her in the context of underground businesses in urban Detroit while focusing on the humanity of those involved. Like Lincoln and Booth, this biography shows that what you do for money doesn’t determine who you are.