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Know Theatre Company puts the work of two leading contemporary playwrights on the boards in repertory for “2X2.”

Suzan-Lori Parks’ 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winner “Topdog/Underdog” kicks off the mini-festival on Jan. 31, directed by Richard Hess chair of the drama department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

“It’s the story of two brothers down on their luck,” Hess said. “One has become a card hustler, playing three-card monte in the street; the other dresses up like Abraham Lincoln and pretends to be shot eight hours a day at an arcade.

“One is named Lincoln and the other named Booth, so if you know your history, you’ll have a bad feeling about where this is going to go.”

The play is about their relationship and how they take different paths to make their lives better.

“Topdog/Underdog” features Todd Patterson and Derek Snow, their second time playing brothers on the Know stage, having previously starred in “The Pillowman” in October.

On Feb. 8, Adam Rapp’s “Red Light Winter” makes its premiere, directed by Eric Vosmeier, Know Theatre’s new associate artistic director in his first stint at the helm.

Two college friends — one using life to the fullest, the other on the verge of suicide — travel to Amsterdam together and inadvertently hook up with the same prostitute.

“The characters are definitely a little quirky, but drawn naturalistically,” Vosmeier said. “You feel a sense of history between them by the way they talk.

“It’s an incredibly well-crafted story, with powerful dialogue and the complete lack of communication btweent people while they are reaching out to each other.”

Resident actors Anne Marie Carroll and Vandit Bhatt will join Cincinnati favorite Anthony Darnell in the cast.

• WHAT: 2X2: “Topdog/Underdog” by Suzan-Lori Parks and “Red Light Winter” by Adam Rapp
• WHERE: Know Theatre of Cincinnati,
• WHEN: In repertory Jan. 31-March 2
• COST: $18-$22
• MORE INFO: (513) 300-5669; www.knowtheatre.com