ALLENTOWN PUBLIC THEATRE

The play, “Topdog-Underdog,” by Suzan-Lori Parks is the next reading in the “Theater Cafe” series, 7 p.m. Feb. 16, Hava Java of Allentown, 526 N. 19th St., Allentown.

The reading is part of the “Voices of Conscience” series.

The play follows the rivalry of two African-American brothers, Lincoln and Booth, who are in their 30s, as they cope with women, hustling, work, and their troubled upbringing. After their parents deserted the boys at 16 and 11, they depended on each other. To support themselves, Lincoln has taken a job as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, while Booth tries to become a card shark at three-card monte.

Parks has received numerous awards for “Topdog-Underdog,” becoming the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2002.

APT Artistic Director Anna Russell praises the play as “a very powerful story about social issues and divides [written] in a way that is accessible yet unconventional.”

Information: allentownpublictheatre.com, 610-432-3045