Presented by Lanes Coven Theater Company
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Kadeem Ali Harris
Featuring Akilah A. Walker and Adrianna Mitchell

Windhover Performing Arts Center
257R Granite Street
Rockport, MA 01966
May 30 – June 15, 2025

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

ROCKPORT, Mass. — Lanes Coven Theater Company sets up shop at Windhover Performing Arts Center, a picturesque campus of indoor and outdoor workspaces in Cape Ann, nestled away at the end of a trail of winding, seaside roads. The company’s current production of Topdog/Underdog is being staged in the Chapel, a tall, barn-like structure that reverberates from whatever elements are roiling outside, with just enough room for 50 or so intrepid audience members who are in on a secret: there’s some damn good theatre in the corners of New England if you’re willing to make the trek.

Topdog/Underdog is Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer-winning masterpiece. It’s had two big-name Broadway runs, is no stranger to regional theater lineups, and is an undisputed modern American classic. Lanes Coven’s production, directed by Kadeem Ali Harris, is a testament to the raw, ever-rewarding power of Parks’ words. You don’t need a flashy, big-budget set to make this play crackle; all you need is stamina, space, and two smart actors – in this case, Akilah A. Walker and Adrianna Mitchell.

Walker and Mitchell play Lincoln and Booth respectively, brothers whose names were given to them as a joke but seem to have locked them into a cosmically cruel birthright. Lincoln has given up a life of card hustling in favor of a stable “sit-down” job amusing sadistic American tourists; Booth strives to emulate his older brother’s former success, desperate to lift himself out of a lifetime of poverty and degradation. A fraternal con game ensues as the brothers come to arms over competing desires for power and love.

Walker and Mitchell approach the play like a musical composition, by first and foremost following the contours of Parks’ text: the breaths and breaks, the diminuendos and crescendos, and most importantly the “reps and revs,” as Parks describes her iterative, jazz-like technique.

Walker and Mitchell also know their own instruments. Walker’s Lincoln is world-weary but hungry, willing to play the long game; she speaks volumes with her shoulders and eyes. Mitchell’s Booth is ravenous, frenetic, with a swaggering bravado that’s always on the verge of collapse. Together, they bring both harmony and dissonance when the music requires it; together, they make this play sing.

Notably, this is the first production featuring two female actors as Lincoln and Booth. Topdog/Underdog isn’t about gender, but masculinity is central to the brothers’ motivations, desires, and choices. Thankfully, this production’s casting choice is not a gimmick. A lesser production might wink at the audience during the script’s sexual references and innuendoes, but here, whenever metatheatrical moments bubble up, they happen organically, never at the expense of storytelling.

At its best, a radical reimagination of a classic text should illuminate aspects of the text that might otherwise be taken for granted. In this case, the juxtaposition between the characters’ and performers’ genders brought up occasional moments of hyper-clarity for me. A scene in which the brothers wax poetic about their erotic fixation on guns, for instance, felt absurdly gendered in a way that I might otherwise have missed.

But for the most part, I completely forgot about the gender discrepancy. Walker and Mitchell approach their characters with such intention and care that the brothers transcend gender altogether. Their masculinity is performative (quite literally), but never artificial. If the production had even an ounce of irony, the entire premise would have collapsed in on itself; luckily, these actors walk the tightrope between absurdism and sincerity with such skill that I can’t imagine any duo that could better humanize these two young men.

Windhover Performing Arts Center has all the advantages and disadvantages of being in and among the elements. Even the rainy night that I attended was beautiful: patrons hugged and chatted under the shelter of a tree, and the smell of heavy rain permeated the playing space. Unfortunately, the venue is unpaved and may be inaccessible for attendees with mobility concerns. Even for an indoor show, patrons are advised to dress for the weather (the paths can flood!).

For non-local theatregoers, this production is worth the shlep. Pack a picnic, wear an extra layer or two, and treat yourself to an utterly heartfelt, utterly unique take on an American classic.

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