Playwright Katori Hall Reacts To White Actor Cast As Martin Luther King, Jr. in THE MOUNTAINTOP

As reported by BroadwayWorld, in September of 2015 the African Community Theatre at Ohio's Kent State University premiered their production of Katori Hall's THE MOUNTAINTOP, a two-person drama set in room 306 of Memphis, Tennessee's Lorraine Motel on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination on April 4th, 1968. The play involves a fictitious encounter Dr. King has with one of the motel's maids.

What made the production unusual, and certainly controversial, is that at three of the production's six performances, the role of Dr. King was played by Robert Branch, who is white. Justin Fraley, who is black, played the role for the other three performances and Cristal Christian played Camae, the maid, for the full run.

"I truly wanted to explore the issue of racial ownership and authenticity. I didn't want this to be a stunt, but a true exploration of King's wish that we all be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin," said director Michael Oatman, who is black, on Kent State's web site. "I wanted the contrast . . . I wanted to see how the words rang differently or indeed the same, coming from two different actors, with two different racial backgrounds."

"While it is true that I never designated in the play text that King and Camae be played by black actors, reading comprehension and good-old scene analysis would lead any director to cast black or darker-complexioned actors," says the playwright in an article for The Root. "Hell, even in Russia, where black actors are scarce, the theater moved mountains to cast two black actors for the reading."

Hall eventually spoke with Oatman about his intentions and she quotes him as saying, "I wanted to see if a white actor, or a light-skinned actor, had the same cultural buy-in and could portray Dr. King. Dr. King is not just a prominent African American, he's a prominent American. Why can't an American play another prominent American?"

The playwright notes that no talkbacks were scheduled to find out if audiences thought his experiment was effective and "with a playwright's intention being dangerously distorted," she calls the casting, "a self-serving and disrespectful directing exercise for a paying audience.'

Language has been added to the play's licensing agreement to ensure that the roles are played by "actors who are African-American or Black," with any casting choice requires the author's approval.

In addition to THE MOUNTAINTOP, Katori Hall's plays include HURT VILLAGE (2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), CHILDREN OF KILLERS, HOODOO LOVE, REMEMBRANCE, SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING, WHADDABLOODCLOT!!!, OUR LADY OF KIBEHO, PUSSY VALLEY and THE BLOOT QUILT. Her plays have been presented on six continents and she is currently under commission to write a new play for the UK's National Theatre.

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Photo courtesy of O&M Co.