Full Cast Set For TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at The Old Globe

The Old Globe has announced the full cast and creative team for Topdog/Underdog, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Guthrie Theater's Sally & Tom, Joe's Pub's Plays for the Plague Year) and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III (The Old Globe's Appropriate, Broadway'sThoughts of a Colored Man). In this modern classic, which The New York Times hailed as the greatest American play of the past 25 years, two brothers reckon with race, identity, ambition and the inescapable pull of family.Topdog/Underdog will play on the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center in San Diego's Balboa Park (1363 Old Globe Way). Performances run September 25 - October 18, 2026, with the official press opening Thursday, October 1, at 7 p.m.

Brothers Lincoln and Booth hustle for survival through the street con game of three-card monte. Their bond is tested by rivalry, resentment, and the elusive promise of the American Dream. By turns funny, provocative, and charged, Topdog/Underdog charts the razor-thin line between ambition and self-destruction.

"Suzan-Lori Parks is a singular figure in the American theater, and her voice is as distinctive as it is captivating,' said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. 'To bring her landmark, Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork Topdog/Underdog to the Globe is a major moment for our theatre and our audiences. The play focuses on the close, even intimate, relationship between two brothers, yet its sweep is gigantic, and it deals with the biggest questions of American identity and history. I am thrilled that this production will be guided by our dear friend and Globe regular Steve H. Broadnax III. Steve's visionary imagination is a perfect match for the rhythmic power of Suzan-Lori's writing, and it is a true joy to welcome him back to the Globe to bring this extraordinary piece of theatre to life for San Diego audiences."

The cast of Topdog/Underdog includes Elijah Jones (Theatre For a New Audience's Henry IV, The Public Theater's The Ally) as Booth, and Alano Miller (Joe's Pub's Plays for the Plague Year, Lincoln Center's Broke-ology) as Lincoln.

Understudies for Topdog/Underdog include Zack King for Lincoln and Zachary Porter for Booth.

Also joining playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and director Steve H. Broadnax III as part of the creative team of Topdog/Underdog are Arnel Sancianco (Scenic Design), Richard St. Clair (Costume Design), Jason Lynch (Lighting Design), Curtis Craig (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Norman Anthony Small (Production Stage Manager).