Topdog/Underdog (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Suzan-Lori Parks
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The mid- to late twentieth century
- Setting: An unspecified city
- Principal Characters: Lincoln, Booth (“3-Card,”)
- Genres: Social realism, Drama
- Subjects: Family or family life, Murder or homicide, Brothers, Violence, Assassination, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Ambition, Abandonment
- Locales: United States
The Play
Set in a seedy urban studio apartment, Topdog/Underdog explores the relationship between two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, so named as a joke by their father. A former master of the con game three-card monte, Lincoln earns his living by donning whiteface and impersonating Abraham Lincoln in a local arcade, where patrons pay to re-create the former president’s assassination with an assortment of cap guns. He has recently been kicked out by his former wife, Cookie, and has moved in with his younger brother, Booth. Nicknamed 3-Card, Booth earns his living by...
[The entire page is 2096 words long]
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