Topdog/Underdog

play by Parks

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July 19, 2026

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Topdog/Underdog is a play by Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The play explores the complex relationship between two brothers, evoking the African American experience. Parks's writing is known for its poetic language, humor, and profound insights. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including a MacArthur Foundation fellowship and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. The term "top dog" refers to someone in a position of authority, often achieved through competition.12

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American literature
The Off-Broadway ascendancy
…In the Blood (1999), and Topdog/Underdog (2001), a partly symbolic tale of conflict between two brothers (named Lincoln and Booth) that reminded critics of Sam Shepard’s fratricidal True West. She later adapted George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in 2012, and her Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts…
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…In the Blood (1999), and Topdog/Underdog (2001), a partly symbolic tale of conflict between two brothers (named Lincoln and Booth) that reminded critics of Sam Shepard’s fratricidal True West. She later adapted George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in 2012, and her Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts…
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Suzan-Lori Parks
…Pulitzer Prize for drama (for Topdog/Underdog).
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…Pulitzer Prize for drama (for Topdog/Underdog).
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