Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop has returned to Los Angeles and is now playing at the Geffen Playhouse through …
The Mountaintop is Hall’s gripping and often humorous re-imagining of events the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorrain Motel on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
King (Jon Michael Hill) is in town to support the City’s sanitation workers. That evening he delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Mason Temple at the request of his friend Ralph Abernathy. Retiring to his room for the night it’s raining. He’s weary…has a bad cough and is concerned about the next day’s march.
After sending Abernathy to retrieve his favorite cigarettes he’s moving about the room preparing his speech. “Why America is going to HELL!”
The audience gets a glimpse of the stress and pressure he’s under as he surveys the room checking for bugs (audio recording devices). He calls down for room service seeking a cup of coffee.
Then enters Camae (Amanda Warren) the hotel’s maid, who explains to Dr. King it was her first night on the job.
As they engage in small talk he reveals this isn’t his first time marching with the sanitation workers. The last time he was in town, the week prior, thousands attended a peaceful march that erupted into chaos.
“We are here marching for a living wage, not a free TV,” said King, with despair. “Stealing a TV gives the cops reason to shoot us!”
He recalls the death of 16-year-old Larry Payne, who was shot and killed during the I Am a Man protest, on March 28, 1968.
“Dr. Martin Loser King,” recalls King as he shares with Camae what the news called him after his handlers whisked him away as the violence began to unfold.
Camae is the antagonist constantly reiterating that “marching isn’t enough” and more needs to be done.
As King begins to grasp for air he collapses. Camae then soothes him.
“Michael calm down….Michael….”
King is perplexed. “How do you know my name….are you one of them?”
“That’s what Abernathy calls you to calm you down,” said Camae.
“How do you know my name…”
It’s at that moment that King and the audience understand Camae isn’t human. She’s an angel.
An angel of death who was there, her first night on the job, to deliver King back home.
“I’ve heard your daughter’s prayers and she doesn’t want her daddy to die alone…she’s very powerful…,” says Camae speaking of Bernice.
The most riveting part of the play takes place during a phone call Dr. King has with God, who Hall defines as a Black woman.
King pleads with “her” to spare his life citing so much work to do. The audience is filled with laughter when Dr. King is told Jesse (Jackson Jr.) will take over for him.
You could also feel the sorrow when Dr. King tries to reach his wife one last time, by phone, but she doesn’t answer. No cell phone. No voicemail. Just despair that he couldn’t speak to her one last time. He wouldn’t hug his children one last time.
“Why did you choose me if I can’t finish the work?” King asks.
Hall inserted images of what has transpired since the death of Dr. King. She goes back and forth between the success of black faces on television and reaching achievements in entertainment and sports.
“Children of the Nile…you must rise!”
The video montage fast forwards to events that happened after King’s assassination which reminds us about the continued violence black people face at the hands of white people.
Rodney King. The Jena 6. Mandela. The montage culminates with the election of Barack Obama, this country’s first black president.
“The baton passes on!”
I had the opportunity to see this play in 2017 when it opened at another theatre and it’s beautiful to see Hall’s work play to a larger audience and on such an amazing set. Seeing Hall’s portrayal of Dr. King as a human – cursing, smoking cigarettes, discussing infidelities, and his smelly feet – brings him back to a human form who wasn’t without sin. His oratorical skills are unmatched.
Hall throws slight shade at King with a comparison to the then-slain Malcolm X. The audience is then allowed to ponder how the two were different yet the same and how powerful the Civil Rights Movement would have been had the two joined forces.
Hill and Warren have amazing chemistry that ignites the stage which keeps the audience engaged for the 90-minute production.
The stage design is exceptional and was designed by Rachel Myers and costumes were created by Mylette Nora.
The playwright is Katori Hall (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, P-Valley) and directed by Patricia McGregor.
The Mountaintop is playing at the Geffen Playhouse located at 10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024 through July 9, 2023.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are currently priced at $39.00 – $129.00. Available by phone at 310.208.2028 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.
Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public one hour before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General/$15.00 Student.
