THE MAN IN ROOM 306 Begins Performances April 12

THE MAN IN ROOM 306, Luna's critically acclaimed signature piece, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. April 12 through May 13th.

As the final play in it's 25th Season Luna will present a revival of the THE MAN IN ROOM 306 Luna's signature piece, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The play was written by Craig Alan Edwards and will star Jamil A.C. Mangan as Dr. King. The production will be directed by Jerome Preston Bates. Performances begin April 12 and will continue through May 13th. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 3pm. Previews begin Thursday, April 12. Official opening will be Friday, April 20 at 8:00pm.

Luna Stage is located at 595 Valley Road in West Orange located in the Valley Arts District. For information and tickets visit our website www.lunastage.org or call the Box Office 973-395-5551.

It is April 3rd, 1968: a rainy evening at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee and the last night in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These are the declining years of the Civil Rights Movement and the stakes couldn't be higher: the viability of nonviolence in the civil rights struggle and Dr. King's credibility as its symbolic leader are in jeopardy. Under these trying circumstances, Dr. King finds himself alone in Room 306, struggling with his past, anxious about his future, and coming to terms with his life. The Man in Room 306 is a critically acclaimed, intimate, and human portrait of Dr. King: a fictional glimpse into the private passions and fears of an incredible man during an extraordinary time.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the day after giving his prophetic speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop." He was in Memphis to support a strike by the black sanitary public works employees, who were represented by AFSCME Local 1733.

The Man in Room 306 was brought to Luna in 1995 by Craig Alan Edwards and Cheryl Katz who worked to develop the piece. When the play opened at Luna Craig Alan Edwards played the role of Dr. King and the play was directed by Cheryl Katz. After a very successful run during the 1995/6 season, Luna revived the piece for the 2007/8 season. Subsequently in 2010 that production transferred to New York as an Off-Broadway production at 59 E 59 Theatre.

Jamil A.C. Mangan returns to Luna Stage Company after his stellar performance as Sam in Master Harold & the Boys. Mangan attended Newark Arts High School, the oldest performing arts high school in the U.S. After graduating from Arts High, Jamil studied theatre arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, the first conservatory for the arts in the U.S. His off-Broadway credits include Mother Courage and her Children (Classic Stage Company), Martin Luther On Trial (The Pearl Theater) and Protect The Poets (Teatro Tea). He received the Audelco Award for Best Supporting Actor in What Would Jesus Do? at the (Billie Holiday Theater), and a Connecticut Critic Circle Nomination for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop (Theaterworks Hartford). Other regional credits include Lynn Nottage's RUINED (Philadelphia Theater Company), Water By The Spoonful (Premiere Stages), Othello (Perseverance Theater), and To Kill A Mockingbird (Orlando Shakespeare Theater). He originated the role of Panther in Tammy Ryan's critically acclaimed play, Lost Boy Found In Whole Foods. He has performed the play in a joint production between Premiere Stages and Writers Theater of NJ, Pittsburg Playhouse and Portland Stage Company. In 2010 Mangan received The Viv Award for Best Ensemble for the play August Wilson's Women. Jamil has collaborated with such institutions as Arden Theater, Connecticut Shakespeare, Contemporary American Theater Festival, African Globe, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Mangan can also be seen alongside Tony Award Winner Roger Robinson in the PBS Documentary, August Wilson: The Ground On Which I Stand.

Jerome Preston Bates is an American actor, who has trained at HB studios, Lee Strasberg Actors Studio, University of Tennessee, Knoxville College and LAMDA, London, England.

Broadway credits include: Seven Guitars, Stickfly. Off-Broadway and regional theater: Joe Turner's Come and Gone (New Federal Theatre), Macbeth (The Old Globe in San Diego, CA), Two Trains Running (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Richard III (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), The Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), King Lear (The Folgers Theatre in The Classical Theatre of Harlem), August Wilson's FENCES (Denver Center, People's Light Theatre, Yale Repertory, Hartford Stage, The Long Wharf, The Alliance Atlanta, The Wilma, Philadelphia Theatre Co, Philadelphia Drama Guild, The Arden, Center Stage Baltimore), Seven Guitars (Chicago's Goodman Theatre). Selected Television and Film credits include: HBO's OZ, All My Children, Law and Order, SVU, Lights Out, NY Undercover, NYPD Blue, Sesame Street, America's Most Wanted, SHAFT 2000, Peeples, Musical Chairs, Tio Papi, Romeo and Juliette in Harlem, The Out of Towners, It Runs in the Family.

Craig Alan Edwards is a New York actor, writer, producer, playwright and original performer of THE MAN IN ROOM 306, a fictional account of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last night in Memphis in 1968. (www.themaninroom306.com) He is a native Philadelphian and a graduate of Boston University. His theatre credits include: REGIONAL: Black Gold; The Arch Bishops Ceiling; Merchant of Venice; King Lear; (Earl Hyman) Taming of the Shrew; Dinner with Friends; Fences; Les Blanc; A Taste of Honey; Much Ado About Nothing; Twelfth Night; Hamlet; Romeo & Juliet; Tracers; My Three Angels; and others. NEW YORK: Waiting for My Man; Box; A Last Dance for Sybil; (Ruby Dee) Love's Labor's Lost; Oroonoko. Craig's television work includes: How to Make it in America, FRINGE, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Intent; All My Children; As the World Turns. Films include: Sweet & Lowdown, Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop, Don't Nobody Love the Game, and Under New Management.

To post a comment, you must register and login.