TOPDOG/UNDERDOG to Make Debut at Arden Theatre Company

Philadelphia-based Arden Theatre Company will continue its 2026/27 Mainstage Season with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog, a gripping two-person drama exploring brotherhood, rivalry, survival, and the ties that bind families together. Directed by three-time Barrymore Award-winning artist Amina Robinson and co-produced with People’s Light, Topdog/Underdog starts its run on the Arden’s Arcadia stage on October 29, with Arden’s opening night on November 4, and performances running through December 13.

Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog tells the story of brothers Lincoln and Booth, unfortunately named as a joke by their father, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Now adults, they share a single room passing time telling stories, testing each other, and circling the street con game of three-card monte. Haunted by the hands they’ve been dealt, the brothers reckon with what their futures will entail.

The People's Light/Arden co-production of Topdog/Underdog opened in September in People’s Light’s Steinbright Theater, and the same artists now bring it to the Arden, offering audiences the play in a distinctly different theatrical space. Topdog/Underdog brings the two theatres together once again to create a shared production for audiences across the Philadelphia region.

The cast and crew of Topdog/Underdog include:Akeem Davis (Lincoln) has appeared in numerous Arden productions, including The Mountaintop (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), Intimate Apparel (George Armstrong), King Hedley II (King Hedley II), The Lehman Trilogy (Mayer Lehman), A Streetcar Named Desire (Harold Mitchell), Gem of the Ocean (Citizen Barlow), and A Doll’s House (Krogstad), for which he received the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play in 2018. Davis also directed the Arden’s 2026 production of Good Bones. His regional credits include performances at Philadelphia Theatre Company, Theatre Exile, InterAct Theatre Company, and Theatre Horizon. Davis is also a Helen Hayes Award nominee and recipient of the 2015 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist.

George McGriff (Booth), a graduate of Temple University, makes his Arden debut. Regionally, McGriff has appeared in productions at the Wilma Theater, EgoPo Classic Theater, InterAct Theatre Company, and South Camden Theatre Company.

Amina Robinson (Director) is a three-time Barrymore Award-winning Philadelphia director whose work is well known to Arden audiences. Robinson has directed several Arden Theatre productions, including last season’s Romeo and Juliet, Intimate Apparel, Once on This Island, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, and 74 Seconds…To Judgment. Her regional credits include work with Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Horizon, Azuka Theatre, Lantern Theater Company, Passage Theatre Company, IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles, CA, and Queens Theatre in New York, NY. Robinson has also performed on Broadway, national tours, in film, television, and in national commercials.

The production team includes Amina Robinson (Director), David P. Gordon (Scenic Designer), Leigh Ivory Clark Paradise (Costume Designer), J. Dominic Chacon (Lighting Designer), Caroline Eng (Sound Designer), Gina Pisasale (Dramaturg), Eli Lynn (Fight Director), and Matthew Ryan Melchoir (Stage Manager).

Suzan-Lori Parks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose works include Topdog/Underdog, Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), The Book of Grace, In the Blood, Venus, 365 Days/365 Plays, and The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World. In 2002, she became the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Topdog/Underdog. Honors for her work include a MacArthur Fellowship, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, the Horton Foote Prize, and an Obie Award. Her work on The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess was honored with a 2012 Tony Award.

Topdog/Underdog begins previews October 29, opens Wednesday, November 4, at 7 p.m., and runs through December 13 on the Arcadia Stage. Single ticket prices vary by performance and start at $32. 

Select performances and events include

Accessibility Open House | Friday, November 6, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.

This season, with generous support from PNC Arts Alive!, the Arden invites the public for two free Accessibility Open Houses — a relaxed, no-ticket-needed chance to explore the tools and services that make live theatre welcoming for every patron. Audiences will learn how to access free and discounted tickets to Arden productions all season long, and connect with organizations working to make arts and culture more accessible across Philadelphia.

Pay-What-You-Choose Performance| Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 7 p.m.

Final dress rehearsal performance benefitting Urban Affairs Coalition, in-person donations accepted.

Young Friends Night | Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 7 p.m.

Networking and pre-show talkback event for professionals 40 and under. Use code: YFARDEN.

Teen Night | Saturday, November 21, 2026 at 7 p.m.

$15 tickets and a post-show talkback for teens ages 13–18.

Post-Show Talkbacks | Sunday, November 15, at 2 p.m. and Thursday, December 10, at 7 p.m.

Join a member of Arden’s artist team for post-show talkbacks.

Student Matinee | Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

Want to bring a school group? Submit a group inquiry.

PNC Arts Alive! | Accessibility: The Arden is for EveryoneThe Arden is fully accessible and proudly named a Keystone of Accessibility by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Accessibility resources include assistive listening devices, sensory processing tools, caption glasses, large-print programs, and more. Learn more at ardentheatre.org.

Caption Glasses | Starting Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Wearable, customizable closed captioning glasses are available to reserve for performances.

Open Captioning | Friday, November 20, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, November 21, at 2 p.m.

Live, on-stage text display of all words and sounds.