Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
UMKC MFA Program, April 2023
Director: Webster McDonald
Lighting Designer: Sydney Griffin
Costume Designer: Grace Marks
Scenic Design Consultant: Adam Hooper
Sound Collage
Concept Statement
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG works to humanize two men who have been abandoned by their family and their country, to show moments that have led them to their current state and prove that they’re more than the harmful acts that they commit. As the play unfolds, we gain deep insights into the inner psyches of these characters, and share in their joy, their love, their heartache, and their betrayal. Musically, I had two broad goals: support the moment, and flesh out the characters. This play has extremely heavy themes, so I thought it was important that the music highlighted, when it can, the tenderness between the brothers and the moments of fun that they share, and when appropriate, add to the rising tension over the show. With ambience, I used sound the way that a lighting designer uses light - to fill or shrink a space, or to draw focus to an important moment - by emphasizing the absence of a sound to which the audience has grown accustomed. And finally with sound effects I sought to provide insight into the thoughts, memories, and feelings of the characters, and physically embody the discomforting and hypnotic energy of particular moments through low frequency drones, oscillating hums, and dissonant or textured pads.
Recorded Music
Music was essential to fleshing out the lives of these characters, as well as providing some relief from the tension that pervades the play. To this end, I produced backing beats/synthesizer lines and worked with musicians and the actors from the cast to create "sound-alikes" of a number of classic songs by Black Americans. Additionally, "Mothers Gone is based on text from the play, with music created by Greg Mackender and Solomon Langley. Vocals by Solomon Langley, Craig Lindsay, and Raheem Akanni.
Soundscapes
"All around the whole arcade is buzzing and popping. Thuh whirring of thuh duckshoot, baseballs smacking the back wall when someone misses the stack of cans, some woman getting happy cause her fella just won the ring toss. The Boss playing the barker talking up the fake freaks. The smell of the ocean and cotton candy and rat shit. And in thuh middle of all that, I can just sit and let my head go quiet. Make up songs, make plans. Forget."
"Its pretty dark. To keep thuh illusion of thuh whole thing.
But on thuh wall opposite where I sit theres a little electrical box, like a fuse box. Silver metal. Its got uh dent in it like somebody hit it with they fist. Big old dent so everything reflected in it gets reflected upside down. Like yr looking in uh spoon. And thats where I can see em. The assassins.
Not behind me yet but I can hear him coming. Coming in with his gun in hand, thuh gun he already picked out up front when he paid his fare. Coming on in. But not behind me yet. His dress shoes making too much noise on the carpet, the carpets too thin, Boss should get a new one but hes cheap. Not behind me yet. Not behind me yet. Cheap lightbulb just above my head.
And there he is. Standing behind me. Standing in position. Standing upside down. Theres some feet shapes on the floor so he knows just where he oughta stand. So he wont mis. Thuh gun is always cold. Winter or summer thuh gun is always cold. And when the gun touches me he can feel that Im warm and he knows Im alive. And if Im alive then he can shoot me dead. And for a minute, with him hanging back there behind me, its real. Me looking at him upside down and him looking at me looking like Lincoln. Then he shoots."
"He pretends to get shot, flings himself on the floor and thrashes around. He gets up, considers giving the new moves another shot, but instead pours himself a big glass of whiskey and sits there drinking." "Much later that same Friday evening. The recliner is extended to its maximum horizontal position and Lincoln lies there asleep. He wakes with a start. He is horrific, bleary eyed and hungover, in his full Lincoln regalia. He takes a deep breath, realizes where he is and reclines again, going back to sleep."
Photos by Brian Paulette