City Theatre to Present THE MOUNTAINTOP, 1/18-2/9

City Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, a powerful and provocative reimagining of a pivotal night in DR. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life-his last. Directed by Peter Flynn, The Mountaintop runs on City Theatre's Mainstage from January 18 to February 9, 2014, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, January 24 at 8pm.

Flash back to April 3, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee. Enter room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, where DR. Martin Luther King, Jr. spent the last night of his life. In this daring reimagining of history, a visit from an enigmatic, young maid unveils the humanity and vulnerability of America's larger-than-life icon.

"The Mountaintop is a unique, fictionalized portrayal of the night before DR. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination," says Tracy Brigden, City Theatre's Artistic Director. "Playwright Katori Hall boldly asks the question: 'What if walls could talk?' Set in the now-legendary Lorraine Motel, the play explores King's humor, achievements, and fears, bringing out the man behind one of America's most significant icons-a true feat."

Katori Hall is a playwright and performer from Memphis, TN. Her plays include: The Mountaintop (2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play), which ran on Broadway at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre starring Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson, Hurt Village (2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Signature Theatre), Children of Killers (National Theatre, UK and Castillo Theatre, NYC), Hoodoo Love (Cherry Lane Theatre), Remembrance (Women's Project), Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Our Lady of Kibeho, and Pussy Valley. Her awards include the Lark Play Development Center Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, the Arena Stage American Voices New Play Residency, the Kate NeAl Kinley Fellowship, two Lecomte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, a NYFA Fellowship, the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award. Hall's journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, Essence, and The Commercial Appeal, including contributing reporting for Newsweek. The Mountaintop and Katori Hall: Plays One are published by Methuen Drama. Hall is an alumna of the Lark Playwrights' Workshop, where she developed The Mountaintop, and a graduate of Columbia University, the A.R.T. at Harvard University, and the Juilliard School. She is a proud member of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, the Coca-Cola Scholar Program, the Dramatists Guild, and the Fellowship of Southern Writers. She is currently a member of the Residency Five at Signature Theatre Company in New York City.

The Mountaintop features Albert Jones (The Brothers Size at City Theatre, 2008) and Bianca LaVerne Jones. The creative team includes Tony Ferrieri (Scenic), Angela M. Vesco (Costume), Betsy Adams (Lighting), Ryan Rumery (Sound), and Calleri Casting (Casting).