Topdog/Underdog (Style)

Style

Naturalism

Topdog/Underdog is less fantastic than some of Parks's other plays. Though the set design evokes social realism, the play is naturalistic in the sense that Lincoln and Booth respond to the environmental forces, such as poverty, that shape their lives externally, as well as to the private desires and ambitions that exert an equal, if not greater, force psychically. The brothers are subject to deterministic sociological and economic forces that lead them to contemplate a life of petty crime. Furthermore, Booth's frank discussions of his sexual needs indicates that strong biological instincts also inform his decisions. Fear and the need for escape, whether through drink or through sex, are other primal forces at work in the play. Though characters in naturalistic works of drama or fiction are occasionally viewed as victims of fate, Parks makes no moral judgments about her characters. She remains objective in the presentation of her material, leaving it to the audience to decide whether life should be viewed pessimistically or optimistically.

Humor

Parks often uses humor to underscore the tragedy of a particular situation as it offsets the dire circumstances the play's protagonists live in. Moreover, humor serves to leaven the pathos of the situation, particularly when one of the protagonists appears to struggle against a sense of inertia that has plagued him throughout his life. For example, Booth's attempts to win Grace's heart after their two-year separation is placed in a comical light when he tells Lincoln that he has boosted a "diamond-esque" ring that is slightly too small for her. Booth did this on purpose so that, once the ring is on her finger, she will not be able to give it back to him the way she did two years before. Booth thinks he is "smooth" to avoid rejection this way, but this humorous scene underscores the way Booth is, as Lincoln says, always "scheming and dreaming." Booth's desperation would be tragic if his plan to win Grace weren't so funny.

Humor is also used within the play to juxtapose comedy with moments of vivid realization. For example, when Booth returns from the department wearing layer upon layer of clothes he has stolen, the visual effect is comical because the audience realizes that his ability to steal matches his audacity. "I stole and I stole generously," Booth says. When Lincoln tries on his new suit and says that clothes don't make the man, he reverses a truism: the fact that he can wear a fake beard and hat does not make him a great man. "I was Lincoln on my own before any of that," he says. Ironically, Lincoln seems less beaten down, less despairing, once he dons the new suit. Another example of how comedy highlights moments of clarity occurs during the scene where the brothers rehearse Lincoln's dying. The scene is uproariously comical even though Lincoln's future employment may be at stake.

Language

Booth and Lincoln both speak a street language that is raw with power and filled with poetry. Their speech is also marked by profanity that assaults the very essence of the person it is directed against. By eliminating the use of apostrophes in contractions, Parks, following the example of the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, creates a language on the printed page that is immediate and unpolished, yet it contains a quality of verisimilitude that reflects her characters' true natures. They are uneducated but streetwise, and the phonetic spellings indicate this lack of sophistication. In addition, the play's dialogue is alone a delight to read and hear. The brothers use words like weapons to undermine each other's confidence, creating a verbal assault that is at times hypnotic and at others menacing.

Stage Directions

In the Author's Notes to the play, Parks includes a short guide to interpreting her "slightly unconventional theatrical elements." Among these are spells and rests. Spells are indicated by the repetition of character names and possess something of an "architectural look." No dialogue is spoken during a spell. Rather, they are designed to aid the characters in revealing "their pure true simple state." Parks leaves any additional interpretation open to the director. Rests, on the other hand, reflect something akin to a musical rest, in that the actor is permitted time to pause, take a breath, or make a transition.