Joel Diggs electrified audiences as Booth in Nashville Rep’s February production of Topdog/Underdog. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Suzan-Lori Parks is about two brothers who share a room in a shabby boarding house and struggle with how society sees them, and ultimately how they see themselves. Playing opposite the towering Eddie George, Diggs nimbly tore around the stage, sometimes in his boxer shorts and socks, as if he might shake the set apart. The play is driven by Booth’s desperate longing to be accepted by his older brother, which mirrors his need to be seen as a man in a country that insists he is a boy. Diggs captured that striving with heartbreaking urgency. His performance read like a love letter to every younger sibling who has ever felt overlooked and underestimated. ERICA CICCARONE
Best Theater Performance
Joel Diggs, Topdog/Underdog
