Alexander Upstairs Presents South African Premiere of Pulitzer Prize Winner TOPDOG/UNDERDOG

The Alexander Upstairs is proud to present the South African premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks's TOPDOG/UNDERDOG. Parks play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002 for this play, which the Pulitzer committee described as 'a darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity'. Directed by Directed by Mdu Kweyama, the production stars Marty Kintu and Daniel Richards.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG tells the story of two brothers named Lincoln and Booth - their father's idea of a joke. Lincoln works in an arcade as his namesake, dressing in whiteface and pretending to watch his final play as customers shoot toy guns at him. He is underpaid but clings to the job for fears of being replaced by a wax dummy. His brother, Booth, shoplifts and dreams of running a three-card monte game on the street like his brother used to do, all with the goal of impressing the girl of his dreams.

The play looks at the sibling dynamic - the older brother who feels saddled with responsibility, the younger who felt he never had a chance to shine - but also looks at the bigger themes of family, connection, and, in Parks's words, "who the world thinks you're going to be, and how you struggle with that."

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG marks the first time that the Alexander Upstairs will host a two-act play and have it in residence for the duration of the run, as opposed to its usual rotating schedule. Jon Keevy, the theatre manager, says:

Alexander Upstairs is excited to present this great American text. While our stages are teeming with local productions of West End and Broadway shows, very few of these are from the African Diaspora - that's a shame, because black excellence needs to connect, needs to be shared, and not overshadowed by another production of Pinter.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG runs from 3 - 20 May at 19:00. Tickets are available from the Alexander Bar website, with tickets costing R70-R80 on 3 May, R100-R120 on Mondays and Tuesdays, and R120-R140 on Wednesdays to Saturdays. For telephone enquiries, call 021 300 1652. The Alexander Bar, Café and Theatre is situated at 76 Strand Street in the Cape Town city centre and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

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