Theater Review: The Mountaintop

Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett.  Photo Credit: Joan Marcus.

Performances Go to the Top, but the Play about Civil Rights Leader's Last Night Misses the Promised Land
By Lauren Yarger
The idea is interesting: a look at the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Performances by Samuel L. Jackson (in his Broadway debut) as the beloved civil rights leader, though portrayed here in an unfamiliar light, and Angela Bassett as the hotel maid with whom he converses are good too -- very strong. The Mountaintop,  Katori Hall's bizarre play, which inexplicably won the Olivier for Best Play in 2010, is not exactly good, though, and falls short of the Promised Land.

It's April 3, 1968 and King, fighting a cold and exhaustion, retires to his shabby room at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis (David Gallo, set and production design) to work on a speech tentatively called "Why America is Going to Hell." Bringing him some coffee through a raging thunder storm is maid Camae (Bassett), who shares some cigarettes, and some advice with the preacher.

Directed by Kenny Leon, Bassett brings a lot of humor to the role of the foul-mouthed woman who attracts the eye of King. He likes her style, and she speaks her mind on everything from berating King about cheating on his wife to what he should include in his next speech, like a line that says "F*** the white man." (The audience roared, though this kind of humor is lost on me).

When he's not smoking, drinking or leering at Camae (we have to wonder whether his estate is very happy with this play), King chastises the maid for her blasphemous comments and does offer some wise words about how the nation can fight a war in Viet Nam or spend money to put a man on the moon instead of taking care of so many of its people in need. But just as we are thinking that the sexually-charged banter is one of the most bizarre set ups we've ever seen to give the author an excuse to write a play, it gets even weirder, though I am unable to provide details without including spoilers.

There is a terrific scene where the set splits away to offer video projections and a monologue by Bassett about the path of civil rights throughout history. The original music is by Branford Marsalis, though I must truthfully admit that I don't recall noticing it during the play.

The Mountaintop, which has been playing to sell-out audiences at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 West 45th St., plays a limited engagement through Jan. 15. Tickets are available by clicking here. In addition, prime tickets to The Mountaintop will be reserved for every performance, even in cases when the show is otherwise sold-out, for the low price of $34.50 with 20 Same-Day Reserve tickets available when the box office opens at 10 am (noon on Sundays) for that day’s performance(s).  They can be purchased with cash or a credit card on a first-come, first-served basis.  There is a limit of two Same-Day Reserve tickets per person.

Christians might also like to know:
Language (including the "n" word)
Lord's name taken in vain
During the course of the conversation there is some problematic theology interjected including :
    God is a black woman; God beats people; angels lived previously as humans.