Katori Hall’s magnificent, beautifully written play is set the night before the assassination of the American civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King jnr, in 1968.
The production is directed powerfully and vibrantly by Rikki Henry. Occasionally the actors were in danger of being upstaged by the fabulous set and sound effects. And the pace in the first half of the play was at times a little too frantic. But this was a breathtakingly inspiring production by Henry.
The play takes place in a motel room in Memphis shortly after King had made his last speech, ‘I’ve been to the Mountaintop’ in which he declared: “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land!”
A week earlier King had attended a march in support of Sanitation Workers. He had been whisked away to safety after the march had turned violent, shops had been looted and a 15 year-old boy had been shot dead by the police.
King’s non-violent principles had been attacked by Malcolm X (assassinated in 1965) and the Black Panther Party. Others had attacked King for widening his focus to encompass a campaign against poverty and a condemnation of the Vietnam War – much to the chagrin of President Johnson (aka LBJ) who had signed landmark Civil Rights legislation aimed at ending the apartheid-style segregation in the Deep South and advancing the rights of African Americans.
With this factual background Katori Hall imagines a meeting between King and a young motel maid named Camae. This was also the name of the playwright’s mother who, aged 15, had been forbidden by her mother to attend King’s last speech.
King, coughing and clearly unwell, checks the phone for FBI ‘bugs’. But despite his exhaustion he makes a start on his next speech, ‘Why America is going to Hell’. He ‘needs’ a coffee which he orders from room service. It is delivered by Camae, a cheerful friendly young woman who can’t stop herself ‘cussing’ even in the presence of ‘Preacher King’.
Caleb Roberts gives a barnstorming multifaceted performance as Dr King. He captures the vulnerability of a man facing constant death threats who had narrowly survived one assassination attempt ten years earlier. He convincingly portrays the nuanced character written by Hall. And in his final speech Roberts is electrifying and truly King-like as he envisages “A land where hunger is no more. A land where war is no more”.
Shannon Hayes is outstanding as Camae. She is delightful as she charms the besotted King but is equally convincing when she displays petulance and the vulnerability of someone who’s had a hard life. Moreover Camae is not just a maid and when she reveals the real reason why she is with Dr King, she handles that transformation with aplomb, and shows enormous strength in her new role.
Roberts and Hayes have a great rapport. They are totally believable throughout – exulting in their flirtatious camaraderie, then jousting over their different takes on the best way for the civil rights movement to proceed. And in the last part of the play, they tear the audience’s heartstrings. Wonderful acting.
There are plenty of laughs in the play, particularly in the first half. Once or twice lines are lost because the actors carry on when the audience is laughing. And I did feel that there were other times in the first half when the pace was so hectic that cues were picked up too quickly and nuances lost.
Joel Trill has done a fine job as voice coach. The southern African American vernacular accents are excellent (coupled with a standard American accent at times for Roberts).
Hyemi Shin’s set design is stunning. The motel room is placed on a raked platform on the stage. Below it is a muddied wasteland. A lot of the play, especially in the second half was set here, and the actors’ costumes were soon covered in dirt from the soil.
At one side of the stage there were rows of wooden chairs, typical of those used in a southern Baptist church.
At one point – reminiscent of Stephen Daldrey’s iconic expressionistic production of ‘An Inspector Calls’ – the motel room part of the set collapsed. Roberts appeared to be controlled by ropes on either side of him, like a manacled slave. And ropes at each corner of the platform helped create the impression of a ship. The design was reminding us of the slave trade when millions of black people were transported from Africa to America.
I did feel that the wasteland was used a little too early in the play and sometimes this was distracting particularly when one actor was in the motel room and the other outside.
Composer and sound designer Pippa Murphy has been influenced by organ music and hymns, as well as cinematic synthesisers, and has created a rich, atmospheric and at times frightening soundscape. But I did find the thunder clashes too loud. And because the music was so good it was also intrusive sometimes when it was accompanying dialogue. It either needed to be used less or at a lower volume.
Benny Goodman’s lighting was superb. I particularly enjoyed the blood red ceiling of the motel room that appeared from time to time.
Vicki Manderson’s work as Movement and Intimacy Director was especially important in the latter part of the play, and she has done her work with considerable sensitivity.
Lewis Den Hertog has designed a stimulating video to illustrate the future that Camae shows Dr King. The play was written in 2009 so when Camae proclaims there will be ‘black presidents’, we see Barack Obama whose presidency began in January 2009. This is perhaps a more hopeful vision of the future than if the play had been updated to 2025 and included an image of the current occupant of the White House.
But Camae had been clear that the future would include ugly as well as beautiful moments. At one point in the play, when King is having a panic attack, he says ‘I can’t breathe’ reminding us of the same words used by George Floyd, an African American, when a white police officer was pressing his knee on his neck and murdering him in 2020.
In this play King says he is a sinner not a saint. “I am a man. I am just a man”. But Camae assures him the world needed him, and that “You have the biggest heart I done ever known. You have the strength to love those who could never love you back”.
Dr King met a violent death at the age of just 39. As Camae puts it: “Speak by love. Die by hate”. In this play King becomes reconciled to the fact he will have to pass the baton on.
100 minutes is a long time to sit in a theatre without an interval, but the time flies by. This is a spectacular production of a life enhancing play. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with plenty of laughs. And it invites us to be inspired by Dr King’s example, and play our parts in making the world a better place.
Reviewer: Tom Scott
Reviewed: 4th June 2025
North West End UK Rating:
‘The Mountaintop’ runs until 21st June at the Lyceum. Tickets from www.lyceum.org.uk