The Mountaintop

by Katori Hall Narrated by Aja Naomi King, Larry Powell

Overview

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. What happened inside room 306 on the evening of April 3 is the subject of Katori Hall's The Mountaintop. Hours after King's final speech, punctuated by his immortal line, “I've been to the mountaintop,” the celebrated Reverend forms an unlikely friendship with a motel maid as they talk into the early hours of what will be his final day.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring:

Aja Naomi King as Camae
Larry Powell as Dr. Martin Luther King

Directed by Roger Guenveur Smith. Recorded in Los Angeles before a live audience at The James Bridges Theater, UCLA in May of 2016.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

01/30/2017
Hall crafts a fascinating look at the final hours of Martin Luther King Jr. in this fictional dramatization of the evening before he was assassinated. King opens up about his inner demons and his legacy as he debates with Camae, a hotel staff member whom he bonds with over the course of the play. Performed in front of a live audience, the production never misses a beat and flows effortlessly for the full emotionally intense hour. Actor Larry Powell captures King’s power, vulnerability, and hubris, while actress Aja Naomi King (who starred in the 2016 film The Birth of a Nation) projects just as much presence and intensity. Integrated throughout the performance, the sound design propels the narrative forward without interrupting it, and the aural montage in the final moments of the production will move listeners to tears with its blending of past and present, dynamic use of call and response, and the ceaseless vocal drive of actress King as Camae. (Dec.)

From the Publisher

Inventive and startlingly moving” —The Times

“Sometimes a play comes out of the blue and knocks everyone for six . . . A beautiful and startling piece, beginning naturalistically before shifting gear into something magical, spiritual and touching . . . A play that keeps you marveling to the end.” —Telegraph

“Wondrous, hilarious and heartbreaking” —Independent

“This is a play that honours greatness, while recognising humanity.” —Sam Marlowe, THE TIMES

“Hall's play is as funny as it is gut-wrenchingly sad.” —Matt Breen, Time Out London

“. . .in it's evocation of an unjust, fractured America, [Hall's play] has few equals.” —Fergus Morgan, THE STAGE

Independent

Wondrous, hilarious and heartbreaking

Telegraph

Sometimes a play comes out of the blue and knocks everyone for six . . . A beautiful and startling piece, beginning naturalistically before shifting gear into something magical, spiritual and touching . . . A play that keeps you marveling to the end.

The Times

Inventive and startlingly moving

The Times (of London)

Inventive and startlingly moving.

The Guardian

Remarkable.

JANUARY 2017 - AudioFile

I’ve been to the mountaintop,” Martin Luther King, Jr., proclaimed in his final speech in Memphis on April 3, 1968. The next day he was assassinated. What took place in the wee hours in-between is the grist for this tough, mesmerizing, and lyrical one-act play featuring two rising stars in American stage and film—Larry Powell and Aja Naomi King. As the mysterious motel maid who appears at Reverend King’s motel door, Aja Naomi King is a force of nature—whispering, cajoling, and calling like a gospel singer to lead the Reverend on a search for his very core as a human being, evoking his pride, humor, and doubts in the process. It’s a transcending, emotional experience for the listener. Contemporary American theater at its best. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2017 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172057298
Publisher:	L.A. Theatre Works
Publication date:	10/21/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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