Ovation Fellows are current students or recent alumni from Los Angeles area universities. Fellows are paired with a Mentor, currently serving as an Ovation Award voter, and see productions and meet artists around Greater Los Angeles throughout the year. Their articles, posted on LAStageBlog, are intended to be their personal responses to their experiences, and not as critical reviews or representing the views of LA Stage Alliance.
Martin Head is an Ovation Fellow from Los Angeles City College.
Topdog Underdog, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize winning play, is a powerful and intense two man drama that originated Off Broadway in 2001. I have read the book several times and studied the play and its characters. I have long looked forward to seeing a live production of this show and this production was everything I hoped for and more.
I have been fortunate this year to see some fine plays as an LA Stage Alliance fellow. Topdog/Underdog and The Ballad of Emmett Till rank as my two favorite productions of the season, hands down. This was actor M.D. Walton’s first shot at producing and, I say, he made all the right moves. Topdog/Underdog will be playing at the Elephant Theatre Company’s Lillian Theatre through Sept. 12.
M.D., who also plays the role of Booth, saw the original production of Topdog Off Broadway and knew someday he had to do this play. In the program he writes, “This play hit my core like no other play I have experienced.” About a year ago, M.D. began the process of fundraising. He told me, “People were very supportive, and for the support for Susan-Lori Parks, and here we are! This is a dream come true for me.” M.D. first met his costar A.K. Murtadha five years ago at a UCSD showcase in New York. M.D. said, “I liked the way A.K. carried himself on stage. I knew someday we would work together.”
The actors have great chemistry and seamlessly manage the tenuous love/hate relationship of siblings Lincoln and Booth. The direction is clear and strong. Every subtle nuance of Parks’ creation is explored and the story is told quite effectively.
This is not an easy play. In addition to complex characters and difficult language, the text is full of imagery, symbolism and mystery. Topdog is an intricately woven piece that cuts to the heart of some very complex and deep seeded human conditions relevant to US history, family, poverty and the attainment of the American Dream. A.K. shared his thoughts about this work, “In the prologue, Parks’ says this as a play about family: two black men trying to make it in today’s society. One of them says, ‘Later for the man; let’s take from the man…any chance we get.’ While the other says, ‘I’m gonna go out there and try to pursue that American dream. Even if it means I have to put on another face.’ This is a true occurrence in our history,” A.K. adds.
Arguably, the most relevant and contemporary black play today, Susan-Lori Parks’ Topdog Underdog is not only significant to the African American audience. This play transcends and speaks to all. My thanks and congratulations go to M.D., A.K. and all the crew of Topdog/ Underdog. I would also like to express my extreme gratitude to Doug Clayton and Terence McFarland at LA Stage Alliance for this enriching experience as an LA Stage Alliance fellow. This has been a wonderful opportunity. I am truly honored.
