Jeremy Morris (left) and Jamar Jones (Photo by Tom Topinka courtesy TheatreLab)
The brothers at the center of Suzan-Lori Parks' acclaimed drama "Topdog/Underdog" are locked in a tumultuous relationship, spliced with rivalry and dark humor. Their names, appropriately, are Lincoln and Booth.
"These guys love each other, they depend on each other, but they also are in constant competition with each other," says Katrinah Carol Lewis, TheatreLab’s associate artistic director, who is directing the show at the theater company’s intimate performance space, The Basement. "So family dynamics are a central theme of exploration in this piece, and there are lots of layers."
"Topdog/Underdog" is part of TheatreLab's third annual BlackList series, which this year pays tribute to Lori Parks, the first black woman playwright to win a Pulitzer Prize for a drama, in 2002. The inaugural run of the series paid homage to August Wilson; last year's spotlighted black playwright was Lorraine Hansberry.
The series was conceived by Richmonder Mary Shaw, and its proceeds fund a scholarship for students pursuing theater academically.
Two dynamic Richmond thespians bring the brothers to life onstage. Playwright and actor Jeremy Morris, who starred in Quill Theatre and the African American Repertory Theatre's "The Top of Bravery" (which won Best Original Play at the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards last year), performs opposite Jamar Jones, seen most recently in the Heritage Ensemble Theatre Co.'s "Free Man of Color." The men, and Lewis, perform regularly together as period actors at Colonial Williamsburg.
"They work together beautifully," Lewis says of Morris and Jones. "When they did a read, they were already comfortable with each other and able to be vulnerable with each other. They have an established trust onstage; I can't wait for them to show their range in this show."
“Topdog/Underdog” shows at The Basement, 300 E. Broad St., May 25 through June 9. For tickets, see theatrelabrva.org.
