Boradway, her way

Historically, the writing ranks of the Great White Way" were just that -- very white and decidedly male. Over time some inroads have been made, but few careers have been sustained. In recent years, however, the tide has begun to turn. Productions of the works of Tony Award-winning playwright August Wilson are universally celebrated. And this spring, veteran playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' latest play, Topdog/Underdog, will debut on Broadway. Not since Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 A Raisin in the Sun or Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf in the late 1970s has Broadway seen such thought-provoking drama written by a Black woman.

In 13 successful years off-Broadway, Parks has established an impressive body of work. A protege of James Baldwin, she is recognized as a pioneer who is continuing to chart new ground.

"I think that we are now at a level in our development in the Black arts community where we are looking at different ways in which Black artists express themselves," says Victor L. Walker II; president and CEO of the Newark, N.J.-based African Grove Institute for the Arts. "That is the important contribution I think Suzan's making - like Ntozake carved her own niche. You cannot negate the fact Suzan-Lori Parks is a brilliant artist."

Last October, Parks received a MacArthur "genius" grant. In 1989, the New York Times named her "the year's most promising playwright," quite an honor for someone who was barely 25 at the time. Now 38, Parks continues living the promise by creating drama that challenges the paradigms of American theater.

Speaking from her home in Venice, Calif., Parks is at once confident and humble, outgoing and reserved. Her infectious energy is immediately evident, even by phone, as she shares news about Topdog/Underdog, which is opening for a 20-week engagement in April, with previews in March.

"I think the folks who always come to plays will be welcomed and find the play entertaining and engaging and moving," she says. "People who don't think that theater is their thing are going to realize that theater is very much their thing. Theater is alive. It's happening. It's you. It's us."

Parks continues her riff, sharing thoughts and enthusiasm on the importance of language and performance in the African American community. High-- spirited and passionate, she discusses how theater is an inherent part of Black culture's oral tradition.

"To me, for African Americans, theater is the continual performance that we've been doing since the beginning of time," she explains. "It's just a very natural and basic component of African American life."

Originally produced last summer by the New York Public Theater, Topdog/Underdog is a dark comedy about two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, who, in a paradoxical twist, struggle to overcome struggle. The play takes place in a seedy one-room apartment, where the brothers share dialogue, family secrets and a sibling rivalry that ignites laughter, tears, love and conflict for both the audience and the characters themselves. The play is a commentary on self-- atonement, introspection and the ironic, sometimes difficult ethos of community.

"It ain't about the white man," Parks says quietly. "It ain't about the legacy of slavery at all. It's about these two men who are brothers and don't get along. They love each other intensely and have come through so much together, and are at each other's throats almost all the time. And that is worth talking about, too."

This reflects Parks' belief that "Blackness" can be explored on its own-- that African Americans' existence is not defined by the presence of "Whiteness," that Black people's lives and concerns can extend beyond issues of race.

"That's not to deny that racism does exist," she maintains, "or that it is a horrible thing, or that it has to be dealt with. But I think perhaps an effective way to deal with, or least try dealing with the issue is through self-examination and self-empowerment."

Topdog/Underdog co-stars Jeffrey Wright as Lincoln. The award-winning actor portrayed the abstract artist JeanMichel Basquiat in the film Basquiat. Wright also gave striking performances as Martin Luther King Jr. in the HBO film Boycott and as Peoples Hernandez, the Latino arch nemesis in the remake of Shaft.

Wright shares the stage with actor and rapper Mos Def in the role of Booth (played by Don Cheadle in the Public Theater production). Although Mos Def, host of HBO's Def Poetry Jam, is most recognized for creating music that charges listeners to think while they bob their heads, the poet has a number of film credits under his belt, including an appearance in Monster's Ball and a role in Spike Lee's Bamboozled. Topdog/Underdog will be his first Broadway appearance.

"My attraction was, fundamentally, that Mos is a very good actor," says director George C. Wolfe, "and that's why I wanted to use him." Wolfe is producer of the Joseph Papp Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival and began his career as a writer (The Colored Museum, Spunk). He earned national acclaim as director of Jelly's Last Jam (which he also wrote), Angels in America and the tap dance sensation Bring in Da Noise/Bring in Da Funk.

"And I think that if by virtue of using him and by virtue of using Jeffrey, both artists who have had success with popular culture, it's going to attract new audiences," says Wolfe. "That's always a good thing, because one always wants to try to bring new audiences into the theater so that they can discover how wonderful and powerful theater can be."

ROOTED IN DISCIPLINE AND HISTORY

Born into a military family in Fort Knox, Ky., Parks is the second of three children. Her mother was a teacher, who stressed the importance of education and the power of knowledge. Her father was an Army Colonel. This may explain Parks' intense discipline as a writer, and perhaps her artistic rebellion against conformity. Like most military children, Parks traveled the world. Eventually, her family settled in Germany, where she spent her teen years in German schools.

She later attended college at Mount Holyoke in Massachusetts, majoring in English and German and graduating cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1985. A creative writing course taken at nearby Hampshire College, would change her life, however. It was taught by the legendary James Baldwin.

"When James Baldwin came into town as a guest creative writing teacher, it was great," Parks recalls. "I was just beginning and [was] not one of the writers in the class who had a lot of flash, you know? Not one of the writers who was most articulate about their work. I couldn't talk the talk or walk the walk or anything, but his confidence in me was like he gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"And he didn't give it to me, I don't think, because I had the most talent. And again, I wasn't the most articulate. I wasn't the most anything. I had a lot of heart, and I loved writing. And I think that's what he saw. He believed in me when I couldn't. I didn't know believing in me as a writer was something I could do."

Baldwin, as teacher and mentor, encouraged Parks to try her hand at writing plays.

"I didn't like theater," she says. "The theater I knew in the college circuit was full of, you know, kind of phony posers. You know - the kind that quoted Shakespeare with affected voices."

But Parks was energetic, loved writing and was excited by the notion of breathing life into her words. She initially wrote short fiction, but would inevitably act out character dialogue when reading her stories in front of the class.

"I was very animated," she remembers. That's when Baldwin asked the life-altering question: Have you ever thought about writing plays?

Clearly, Baldwin's advice paid off. Today, she's touted as the "Belle of off-Broadway." Two of her plays have won Obie Awards, off-Broadway theater's highest honor, and her play In the Blood was nominated for a Pulitzer.

"She has an incredible imagination," says Wolfe. "I think how she uses language is incredibly exhilarating, and I think she is one of this country's leading dramatists at this time."

Parks, director of the playwriting program at the California Institute of the Arts, manages to teach while juggling projects. Currently, she's writing Hoopz, a musical about the Harlem Globetrotters for Disney. Parks is also crafting a television script an adaptation of Toni Morrison's Paradise into a mini-seriesf or Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. Parks is also no stranger to film. Her first screenplay was Girl 6, directed by Spike Lee.

"So I'm sitting here right now, I have all these index cards with scenes," Parks explains as she charts through ideas. "What's cool is that you're writing parts for people to play. It's like we've been living for such a long time, but we haven't had these parts to play."

"Once you see you have a role to play, then you are liberated to do anything. And then you're liberated, for example, to be an actor, then you're liberated to be a playwright, then you're liberated to be a lighting designer. Once you see you have a role to play, you are then liberated to be anything you want to be."

Aaron Bryant is a freelance writer in New Haven, Conn.

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated Mar/Apr 2002
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