Review: THE MOUNTAINTOP at Alliance Theatre

THE MOUNTAINTOP is the Alliance Theatre's second production with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall (THE HOT WING KING.) It is "a gripping reimagining of the night before the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination" that Hall describes as "engages with history and dreams about a new future." Directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, THE MOUNTAINTOP runs on The Coca-Cola Stage until September 22, 2024.

Another Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Arthur Miller, famously said, “The mission of the theatre, after all, is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibilities.” THE MOUNTAINTOP has done precicsely this. You feel it in your bones and walk out of the theater doors ready to, as Hall tells us to, "pass the baton." 

The story takes place in one night on April 3, 1968 when "an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after delivering one of his most memorable speeches." A woman named Camae brings room service to the door and Dr. King invites her in. Soon after, Dr. King is pushed to accept his Divine calling and thus, his legacy.
 
“I wrote this piece from a place of skepticism. As a young African American who grew up in the South, who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, specifically, which is the place that Dr. King was slain, I had questions,” said playwright Hall. “The conceit of this play…and the fantastical approach allows there to be some room for a kind of image deconstruction – not legacy deconstruction, but image deconstruction – that humanizes those we have placed on pedestals." 

Atlanta is lucky for another of Alliance's Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden directed plays and also another play by Katori Hall. This duo seems to create the kind of work that makes people come out to see theatre. We look forward to knowing what their joyiously complex and combined visions will get us thinking about as we stand in our seats during curtain calls. As Arthur Miller also said, "I could not imagine a theater worth my time that did not want to change the world." Hall and Kajese-Bolden appear to be doing just that.

THE MOUNTAINTOP stars Rob Demery as an exciting and fully embodied Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and an equally as engaging Jade Payton as his catalyst, Camae. Demery comes through the door at the top of the play and nevers stops the uphill climb to the final moment. Watching him take off his shoes is an acting class in itself. You believe he's Dr. King and you belive he's all alone. (And eventually you believe he's speaking directly to you from on top of that mountain.) When Payton knocks and Demery answers, their energy entangles with such clarity and force you find yourself wanting to stand after Payton's impression of Dr. King. Her performance is enthralling and motivating in itself, but together, these two are another duo for the books.
 
Set Designer Tony Cisek has done a facinating work of artistry around the cast, forcing perspective with the walls and adding another layer of action unto itself. My only complaint was it was so perfect (you could almost smell the cigarette smoke in the curtains) that I found myself wishing the furniture and pictures on the walls had aligned with the trick dimensions as well. Kudos, also, for the extra set surprizes that gift us with magical moments for which to gasp. Costume Designer Kara Harmon, Lighting Designer Ben Rawson, Sound Designer Melanie Chen Cole, Projections Designer Miko Simmons, and Projections Programmer Colby Nordberg also spared nothing in their creations that supported the story as we imagine things would have looked in our mind's eye upon reading the script.

“This show is an opportunity to celebrate the majesty of the human will despite the flawed nature of our human condition,” said Director Kajese-Bolden. “We exist in a time where we prop our leaders up to unattainable standards, wanting them to be almost Christlike in perfection, which is detrimental for them - but worse - it’s paralyzing for us! We count ourselves out for fear we will never live up to the ideal. It was the scars of Dr. King that made him a great leader and this reimagining of his final night with an equally complicated, yet hopeful visitor, is the urgent reminder to awaken the leader within, grab the baton for change, and run the race ahead.” Move over Arthur Miller, there's a great charge happening at Allliance Theatre. Go now to THE MOUNTAINTOP and see the view for yourself. 

Photo: Greg Mooney