Suzan-Lori Parks won a 2002 Pulitzer Prize for drama with her “Topdog/Underdog” which came to the Mark Taper Forum in 2004. At the South Pasadena Fremont Centre Theatre, the power is in the smallness of the venue. Under the direction of James Reynolds, with Jed Reynolds as the elder brother and Stephen Rider as the scrappy younger  brother, the rawness and anger are more immediate.

Deserted by their parents, their mother leaving first and then their father dumping them when they were 16 and 11, these two African American men are living in a one bedroom in a rooming house. There’s no running water. The only bed is small and belongs to the younger brother, Booth. Lincoln sleeps on a big chair.

Set designer Dove Huntley gives us a home of economic and emotional despair: dingy wallpaper that is peeling, a pipe protruding along the ceiling that is used for hang clothes, a mattress so thin it has no shape beneath the sheets, and trash left on the floors.

As a joke, the boys’ father named them Lincoln and Booth. Lincoln is far from honest–he was once a street hustler–but has left that life to play the President Lincoln in an arcade where people can come in and shoot him with cap guns for a cheap thrill. He must wear whiteface and gets paid less than the white man who played the part before him.

Booth doesn’t work, but he talks about his girl–getting her back and treating her right. He also plans to start street hustling, doing the same three-card con his brother used to perform with his crew, pulling in a thousand dollars daily. But Booth is heavy-handed and not particularly glib.

There’s some love between the brothers, but each is emotionally crippled and in their dog-eat-dog mentality only one can come out on top.

According to the director’s notes, this play was not being performed because of the language. We’re not talking about usage of the N-word, but there are plenty of four-lettered curse words.

Race and the limitations placed on African American men is one theme, but it’s also about the pain of poverty and during these economic times, that might make watching the brotherly relationship implode too difficult. If you can bear it, then this production is a powerful, hard-hitting production that shows why sometimes a smaller venue is better.

“Topdog/Underdog” continues until 18 September 2010 (Saturday) at the Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave. (at El Centro). Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 8 p.m. For more information call (866) 811-4111 (Theatermania) or go to www.fremontcentretheatre.com.