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Topdog Diaries, The
Image // Unrated // September 7, 2004
List Price: $14.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The film business is littered with documentaries on the process of filmmaking, whether it be five-minute fluff pieces on DVDs or full-length features about film failures (the excellent Lost in La Mancha. But rarely do viewers get a chance to go inside the making of a smash hit play.
The Topdog Diaries gives the viewer exactly that opportunity, showing the creative process behind the Tony-nominated and 2001 Pulitzer Prize–winning play Topdog/Underdog by Suzan Lori-Parks. Despite clocking in at just under an hour, the documentary does a great job of answering every imaginable question about the play from conception to staging.
Starting with the playwriting process, The Topdog Diaries gives the viewer an intimate look at the process of mounting a major off-Broadway production. The story follows Suzan-Lori Parks, an acclaimed playwright before Topdog/Underdog, as she tries to get her new play put up by The Public Theater in New York.
Iun addition, we get an exploration of the play's themes, as Parks tries to dispel some myths. For instance, the fact that the brothers are named Lincoln and Booth is not a shot at the former's free-but-not-with-rights emancipation of slaves. It is not rumination on the state of Black America ("Why can't they just be actual brothers?" she asks at one point). Topdog/Underdog, in Parks' eyes, is just a simple story told well: Two brothers, both down on their luck, together in a room.
Rehearsal footage is also included in the feature, which is a rare chance to peek behind the curtain and see what the actor's process looks like with two of the best in Jeffery Wright and Don Cheadle, the originators of the roles (rapper/actor Mos Def replaced Cheadle when the play moved to Broadway).
(NOTE: The feature does discuss – and, in fact, show – the end of the play. Do not watch The Topdog Diaries if you plan on seeing or reading the play in the near future and wish to be surprised.)
The DVD
The Topdog Diaries gives the viewer exactly that opportunity, showing the creative process behind the Tony-nominated and 2001 Pulitzer Prize–winning play Topdog/Underdog by Suzan Lori-Parks. Despite clocking in at just under an hour, the documentary does a great job of answering every imaginable question about the play from conception to staging.
Starting with the playwriting process, The Topdog Diaries gives the viewer an intimate look at the process of mounting a major off-Broadway production. The story follows Suzan-Lori Parks, an acclaimed playwright before Topdog/Underdog, as she tries to get her new play put up by The Public Theater in New York.
Iun addition, we get an exploration of the play's themes, as Parks tries to dispel some myths. For instance, the fact that the brothers are named Lincoln and Booth is not a shot at the former's free-but-not-with-rights emancipation of slaves. It is not rumination on the state of Black America ("Why can't they just be actual brothers?" she asks at one point). Topdog/Underdog, in Parks' eyes, is just a simple story told well: Two brothers, both down on their luck, together in a room.
Rehearsal footage is also included in the feature, which is a rare chance to peek behind the curtain and see what the actor's process looks like with two of the best in Jeffery Wright and Don Cheadle, the originators of the roles (rapper/actor Mos Def replaced Cheadle when the play moved to Broadway).
(NOTE: The feature does discuss – and, in fact, show – the end of the play. Do not watch The Topdog Diaries if you plan on seeing or reading the play in the near future and wish to be surprised.)
The DVD
Video:
Presented in anamorphic widescreen, The Topdog Diaries is a digital video production that shows some serious signs of video noise, especially on white backgrounds. Otherwise, the picture is no different from a digital cable showing.
Audio:
A stereo track is provided, and all that is necessary for such a documentary. The sound is reproduced well, and dialogue is always discernable.
Extras:
None at all. Not even a menu.
Final Thoughts:
It's difficult to recommend purchasing The Topdog Diaries with the feature only being 54 minutes long and no extras being provided. But for theater fans, the documentary is a must rent.
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