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Synopsis Martin Luther King retires to room 306 in the Lorraine Motel the night before his assassination. He has just delivered a speech to a Memphis church congregation during the sanitation workers' strike. When a mysterious young maid from the motel visits him, King is forced to confront his past and the future of his people. Studio 1
American Katori Hall's new play The Mountaintop, about the final hours of Martin Luther King, transferred to Trafalgar Studios this week (20 July 2009, previews from 16 July), following its acclaimed premiere at Battersea's Theatre503 in June.
Starring David Harewood as King and Lorraine Burroughs as enigmatic hotel maid Camae, the play is set in King's Memphis motel room on the night before his assassination in April 1968. Directed by James Dacre, it runs until 5 September.
The critics, some of whom attended at Theatre503 and some of whom got their first glimpse this week, were quick to praise Hall's “imaginative” retelling of the great orator's final hours. Harewood was generally deemed to have Luther King's trademark vibrato vocal quality “to a tee”, even if, as observed by Whatsonstage.com's Michael Coveney, he “doesn't much look like King”. And Lorraine Burroughs was deemed by most a “revelation” as his sexy sparring partner Camae. Not all were enraptured, The Guardian's Lyn Gardner finding Hall a playwright “ascending the mountain if not yet reaching its peaks”, but it seems fair to conclude that, with a clutch of raves, The Mountaintop is well worth the journey.
** DON’T MISS our Whatsonstage.com Outing to THE MOUNTAINTOP on 5 August 2009 – inc a FREE programme, drink & post-show Q&A with the stars & director!! – all for only £27.50!! - click here for details! **
Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (four stars) - “James Dacre’s outstandingly well acted production has no trouble at all filling the main theatre and ends up far from 'intimate' … When the maid arrives, you wonder how the civil rights hero will keep her there for the play’s duration without some tacky one-on-one development. But the ninety minutes unfolds with a mixture of conversational gambits and magic realism that soon has you in an emotional head lock … David Harewood doesn’t look much like King, but he exudes a tremulous authority and charismatic personality that must come somewhere close … Lorraine Burroughs’ gingham-skirted maid Camae at first provides the Pall Malls he craves (the aide never returns), bounces off his domestic chit chat on the phone with his wife, hints at his reputation for a roving eye and draws him inexorably towards his destiny on the balcony outside room 306 on the following morning … The climax is a sensational act of reclamation and fulfilment as the stage explodes, the actors buoyant on a sea of anger, blasphemy, passion, music and crashing sound effects. It becomes a big play after all, and well worth its transfer to the large arena, however uncomfortable the seating in the grim Trafalgar.”
Nicola Christie in the Independent (four stars, reviewed at Theatre503) - “The Mountaintop is an imaginative portrayal of one of the most famous men who lived, whose dream of equality made his 39 years of life resonate long after his assassination. While Hall doesn't give King his dream in The Mountaintop, she does give him another one; one that is wondrous, hilarious, and heartbreaking to witness. In this world premiere at Theatre503 … her writing gets the actors and director - James Dacre - that it deserves. David Harewood, as King, is going to be on screen in a new BBC drama as Nelson Mandela soon, and on this showing, it will be well worth watching; his mighty grip on character - and the swing between fear, humour and quietness - reminded me of Forest Whitaker's turn in The Last King of Scotland. His sidekick, Lorraine Burroughs, is beautiful, sassy and worthy of the company she has been sent to keep … The pair deliver from the stage of a tiny theatre to a small audience who watch their exchanges transfixed; these two are on fire. Katori Hall must be ecstatic that her words have been executed in the manner that they have.”
Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail (four stars) - “An American playwright, Katori Hall, has come up with a sweet idea - although, like certain types of confectionery, the flavour turns slightly synthetic the longer you suck it … David Harewood has Martin Luther King's urgent tenor to a tee. He maybe overdoes the vocal tremor a little, but we see a King who has manly appetites and a keen sense of inquiry … Miss Hall's depiction of civil rights leader King as a rake who considered being disloyal to his wife may upset some. This Martin Luther King even has smelly feet. In its politics, however, the play is decidedly more conventional and respectful … James Dacre's production has force. The basic plot idea is clever, Mr Harewood's King is a strong, likeable man and in this small, shabby hotel room you understand how that extraordinary voice must have mesmerised so many millions.”
Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph (five stars, reviewed at Theatre503) - “Nothing short of a coup for Theatre503 in Battersea, The Mountaintop is audacious on many levels. It dares, most obviously, to imagine its way into a dark moment in American history … With consummate artistry, Hall interweaves fact and fiction. Down-to-earth humour nestles alongside flights of visionary transcendence. Via an ingenious twist, the play begins by contemplating a single point in time and ends by creating a vantage point not only over King’s life but over history itself – and how one man’s deeds can become a lasting legacy … James Dacre’s gripping production, punctuated by ominous flashes of lightning, creates a down-at-heel motel ambience to perfection and is blessed with two superlative performances. David Harewood has just the necessary aura of stern-jawed authority, catching King’s tremulous rhapsodic style and also a touching vulnerability. Lorraine Burroughs is equally assured as the mysterious interloper, flirtatious and clever, headstrong and curious … It’s rare to find writing this accomplished on the fringe.”
Lyn Gardner in the Guardian (three stars, reviewed at Theatre503) - “The black American playwright Katori Hall grew up in Memphis, close to where King was shot. Her playful two-hander, set in a room in the Lorraine Hotel on the night before King's death, asks whether, in the years between the assassination of King and the election of Barack Obama, black Americans really have reached the mountaintop, or merely got stuck halfway up. This well-made and enjoyable fantasy is a variation on that old-fashioned theatrical staple: two unlikely people brought together in a room … Hall's light feminist touch and the mix of fantasy and reality keeps the mood lively, and James Dacre's production grounds things nicely in the everyday mundanity of a motel bedroom. David Harewood and Lorraine Burroughs are outstanding in a play that marks Hall as a playwright ascending the mountain if not yet reaching its peaks.”
Ben Wardle in thelondonpaper (four stars) “Director James Dacre’s production is nothing short of magnificent … After initial worries that David Harewood’s King is a little caricatured with its 'I have a dream' vibrato, he reveals the man behind the national holiday - righteous and earnest, yes, but also self-deprecating, playful, vain and racked with fear … Lorraine Burroughs is also a revelation as Camae. I won’t reveal the twist, suffice to say you will laugh, cry and possibly leave the theatre a better person.”
I went along to the Trafalgar Studios expecting to find this already acclaimed two-hander from Theatre 503 housed in the smaller space. But James Dacre’s outstandingly well acted production has no trouble at all filling the main theatre and ends up far from “intimate.”
It takes time. American playwright Katori Hall places us in the Memphis motel room where Martin Luther King spent his last night on earth, working on a speech and fretting about his cigarettes; an aide has gone off to buy some Pall Malls and he calls up a cup of coffee on room service.
When the maid arrives, you wonder how the civil rights hero will keep her there for the play’s duration without some tacky one-on-one development. but the ninety minutes unfolds with a mixture of conversational gambits and magic realism that soon has you in an emotional head lock.
David Harewood doesn’t look much like King, but he exudes a tremulous authority and charismatic personality that must come somewhere close. He’s fraught with self doubt and troubled by his status, checking the bed clothes and telephone for bugging devices (his FBI file is bigger than the Bible, he says) and wondering whether to shave off his moustache.
As a foil to these misgivings, Lorraine Burroughs’s gingham-skirted maid Camae at first provides the Pall Malls he craves (the aide never returns), bounces off his domestic chit chat on the phone with his wife, hints at his reputation for a roving eye and draws him inexorably towards his destiny on the balcony outside room 306 on the following morning.
Their innocent duet becomes a dance of death, played out against the rumbling of the street protests and the gathering storm, with an impassioned debate on degrees of revolution, the plot to kill the white man with minds, not guns, the shortcomings of Malcolm X and the intentions of God, who comes on the phone as a woman.
The climax is a sensational act of reclamation and fulfillment as the stage explodes, the actors buoyant on a sea of anger, blasphemy, passion, music and crashing sound effects. It becomes a big play after all, and well worth its transfer to the large arena, however uncomfortable the seating in the grim Trafalgar.
- Michael Coveney
** DON’T MISS our Whatsonstage.com Outing to THE MOUNTAINTOP on 5 August 2009 – inc a FREE programme, drink & post-show Q&A with the stars & director!! – all for only £27.50!! - click here for details! **
NOTE: The following FIVE STAR review dates from 15 June 2009, when this production premiered at Theatre503
Perhaps it's because many saw the election of Barack Obama as the symbolic fulfilment of Martin Luther King's “dream”, or perhaps it's because we've all just had a sharp reminder of the existence of racist sympathisers in our own country following the election of two BNP MEPs; either way, the timing of Katori Hall's new play The Mountaintop could hardly be more apposite.
Set in King's Memphis motel room the night before his assassination, the play is grounded in reality but with a surreal twist. As the great orator winds down after the delivery of his eerily prophetic “I've been to the mountaintop” speech, he's brought an after-hours coffee by the beautiful Camae, who soon turns out to be far more than a motel maid.
This fizzing two-hander is performed by two actors at the top of their game, superbly marshalled by director James Dacre. David Harewood captures the singing, vibrato vocal quality of King's voice, so recognisable from his speeches, and illuminates some of the paradoxes lying behind the rhetoric. There are traces of snobbery, arrogance and sexism – he's portrayed as a man who would die for equal rights but laughs at the suggestion God is a woman.
As Camae, Lorraine Burroughs is the perfect foil; sexy, wily, witty and every inch as powerful an orator as Harewood's King. The revelation of her true identity is hardly a big surprise, but she pulls off the transition with fervor. The two spar together brilliantly, and Hall ensures the text runs the gamut of emotions from the playfulness of a pillow-fight, to the heart-rending decision King must make to sacrifice himself for the cause.
This is a gem of a play; well-conceived and wholly rooted in the period it portrays (writer Hall hails from Memphis and her sense of personal connection to the events portrayed shines through). And to see an actor of Harewood's pedigree in such an intimate space, delivering a performance of such emotive conviction, is a real privilege. Highly recommended.
Simply the best new play I've seen in years. 90 minutes flew by as two actors on top of their form mesmerised the audience, making us laugh, whilst never forgetting tha legacy that was to be Martin Luther King Jr.
The theatrical twist at the heart of the play works admirably and the author is uses it to develop the exposition of King's life's work.
Lorraine Burroughs is amazing easily holding her own with the better known David Harewood and, when she demonstrates to King how he SHOULD put over his message, she almost steals the show.
The run ends soon - but I do hope that more people get the chance to see what is a true theatrical experience. - Blair Kesseler
02 Sep 09
A highly original and well written play with two stunning performances from David Harewood and Lorraine Burroughs. Though it's great that something as good as this starts on the fringe and transfers to the West End, it does beg the question why aren't the Royal Court, NT et al developing new plays of this quality? Terrific. - Gareth James
02 Aug 09
WARNING: Please try to avoid reading anything which gives away the surprise in this remarkable new play. Up until that point the two-hander between Martin Luther King and a pretty room-service waitress had been illuminating and often extremely funny but because it focussed on King's human weaknesses I was worried that his memory and stature were being diminished. Then Katori Hall pulls off an astonishing twist and we are able to think more about King's achievements and legacy. Hall brilliantly gets her message across without being preachy and maintains the high level of comedy, building to a superb finale including an all too fleeting snippet of Obama, clearly establishing him as the fulfillment of King's crusade. David Harewood (who barely resembles King, but has the voice to perfection) and Lorraine Burroughs (looking like Whitney Houston in her better days) are sensational in a genuinely stunning new play. All credit to Sonia Friedman and ATG for transferring this to the West End so quickly - hopefully not too quickly for The Mountaintop to find the audience it so richly deserves. - David Baxter
23 Jul 09
what a great production, fine acting wonderful direction.
loved it - chalres
22 Jul 09
This show turned out to be a marvellous surprise! The performances were mesmerising and the direction tight. I will definitely see this one again! - amdram1
Opened 29 Sep 1930, on site of the Old Ship Tavern. Famous for the Whitehall Farces (Brian Rix) which started in 1950. 608 seats. Member of the Society of London Theatre. An [ATG] member. Closed after the run of Abigail's Party July 12th 2003. The 377 seat Trafalgar Studio opens early 2004. A further 100 seat studio space in the pipeline. Renamed from the Whitehall to Trafalgar Studios.
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