Virtual reading of The Mountaintop announced to raise funds for incarcerated Black Lives Matter protestors

Katori Hall's award-winning play The Mountaintop will be performed virtually on Wednesday 10 June at 7.30pm.

Reuniting the cast and crew of the 2016 Desara Productions, JMK Trust and Young Vic revival, the piece will be directed by Roy Alexander Weise (co-artistic director of the Royal Exchange Manchester) with cast members Gbolahan Obisesan and Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo.

The piece is raising funds to support the legal costs of protestors incarcerated during the ongoing protests and rallies across the world.

Weise said: "COVID-19 is the latest pandemic to strike but we've all been dodging a virus for centuries; the sickness of Racism. The structures have been more acutely illuminated in our country and more blindingly so in America but the pain and rage felt by Black people around the world today is NOT new. The deaths and violence are NOT new. For Black people, I offer
this story for catharsis. I see you. I grieve and scream and feel and do with and for you. For
white people it's an opportunity to listen, really listen and to learn; with your families and
those you are connected to.

The Moutaintop is a call to arms. The world is watching us all. What will YOU do?
HERE. IN THIS COUNTRY. We are on the cusp of something that could change the story of
humanity and the quality of life for every human being to walk the earth from this point
forward. We all have a part to play. As we think on the life of Dr King, may we also think of
the lives lost and those sacrificing theirs right now for the lives of all our children and their
children yet to come."

Hall's play is set during the Civil Rights Movement on the eve of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Hall and Weise will introduce the reading next Wednesday, it will be available here.

This week, Black Lives Matter rallies and campaigns have occurred all over the world. If you are looking for ways to support and donate, there is a useful guide here.