Interview: Gregg T. Daniel of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Pasadena Playhouse
Don’t let the Pulitzer fool you— this is not a museum piece.
When director Gregg T. Daniel saw Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright in the premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog back in 2002, he knew it was a play he wanted to direct. “The writing is muscular, clever, funny, it just caught me,” he remembers. “I think the Pulitzers got it right,” he continues, reflecting on the play’s 2002 award, which made Parks the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer for Drama. “There’s a great sense of theatricality, an element of surprise. (Parks) brings us in with humor and lightness and then pulls the veil back on us. The play exists in the world of three-card monte—- she cons us.”
However, Daniel reflects, the accolades afforded the premiere of the play as well as subsequent productions (the recent Broadway revival won the 2023 Tony and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Revival of a Play) have situated the piece in tricky territory. “Everyone says, ‘Oh yeah! That play. No, I haven’t seen it.’,” Daniel laughs. The prestige surrounding the two-hander along with what Daniel diagnoses as its ‘thorny’ territory may cause regional companies to overlook it or make audiences wary of attending.
When he took the helm for the coming production at Pasadena Playhouse, Daniel was happy to be allowed to chat with the marketing team about his vision of the play. “We all want to be on the same page about how we present this play. I consider this a new play, not a play written in 2001. There’s a sense of fun here—- it’s not maudlin or morose. It’s an American story, it’s a contemporary story. Don’t let the Pulitzer fool you— this is not a museum piece. It is rooted in America and characters invested in the American dream. None of it is dated.”
It is Daniel’s belief that the rich Black history of Altadena and current national conversations surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion will allow audiences to engage with Parks’ work as a vital, timely reflection. “Because of the strength of the writing, you have to root for these characters. It’s a play about family and wanting to belong, and anyone can relate to that. We all want to have a sense of family— dysfunctional or otherwise.” Just as this rehearsal process saw the cast and creative team reflecting on their own relationships, histories of injustices, and struggles for belonging, Daniel hopes the production will bolster and make space for audiences to do the same.
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