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The Mountaintop
Exactly one year ago, I stood in that crumbling pulpit in Riverside and shouted that this war would be our own violent undoing, freedom's suicide . . . Well, I'll tell you, there weren't too many Amens that Sunday. But who is a man who does not speak his mind? He is not a man, but I am a man.
The night before his assassination, King retires to room 306 in the now-famous Lorraine Motel after giving an acclaimed speech to a massive church congregation. When a mysterious young maid visits him to deliver a cup of coffee, King is forced to confront his past and the future of his people.
Portraying rhetoric, hope and ideals of social change, The Mountaintop also explores being human in the face of inevitable death. The play is a dramatic feat of daring originality, historical narration and triumphant compassion.
This Modern Classics edition of the play features a foreword by Michael Eric Dyson and an introduction by Faedra Chatard Carpenter, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Theatre, University of Maryland.
The night before his assassination, King retires to room 306 in the now-famous Lorraine Motel after giving an acclaimed speech to a massive church congregation. When a mysterious young maid visits him to deliver a cup of coffee, King is forced to confront his past and the future of his people.
Portraying rhetoric, hope and ideals of social change, The Mountaintop also explores being human in the face of inevitable death. The play is a dramatic feat of daring originality, historical narration and triumphant compassion.
This Modern Classics edition of the play features a foreword by Michael Eric Dyson and an introduction by Faedra Chatard Carpenter, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Theatre, University of Maryland.
88 pages, Paperback
First published September 22, 2011
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557 people want to read
About the author
Katori Hall
16 books38 followersKatori Hall (born May 10, 1981) is an American playwright, journalist, and actress from Memphis, Tennessee.
Hall graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a major in African-American Studies and Creative Writing. She was awarded top departmental honors from the university's Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS). In 2005, she graduated from the American Repertory Theater's Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting, and graduated from the Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting program in 2009.
Her awards include a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Lark Play Development Center Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, two Lecompte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, NYFA Fellowship, and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. Hall was shortlisted for the London Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award and received the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award from the William Inge Theatre Festival. She is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 1999, Hall graduated from Craigmont High School (Memphis, TN) as the first African-American valedictorian.
Hall has been published as a book reviewer, journalist, and essayist in publications such as The Boston Globe, Essence, Newsweek and The New York Times. She has been a Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellow at the O’Neill.
(from Wikipedia)
Hall graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a major in African-American Studies and Creative Writing. She was awarded top departmental honors from the university's Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS). In 2005, she graduated from the American Repertory Theater's Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting, and graduated from the Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting program in 2009.
Her awards include a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Lark Play Development Center Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, two Lecompte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, NYFA Fellowship, and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. Hall was shortlisted for the London Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award and received the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award from the William Inge Theatre Festival. She is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 1999, Hall graduated from Craigmont High School (Memphis, TN) as the first African-American valedictorian.
Hall has been published as a book reviewer, journalist, and essayist in publications such as The Boston Globe, Essence, Newsweek and The New York Times. She has been a Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellow at the O’Neill.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
March 20, 2013
After having the pleasure of seeing it performed at Baltimore’s Center Stage, I had to track down and read how this play was supposed to work. The two actors did a mighty job in what was essentially an hour-long conversation between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a maid, one with a penchant for changing tone and subject every couple of minutes. It turns out the text is the same way. Two pages after having a serious confrontation about King’s imminent death, the two engage in a tickle fight. Two pages after he tries to kick her out of his hotel room, they stand chest-to-chest about to make out. There are at least a dozen hard turns, none of them particularly earned, putting a severe onus on the actors to make the material work. On the page, there is little flow between the many segments, and they come off feeling very much like segments rather than phases of conversation. Some are good fun, though they perplex with lack of flow or direction.
I wish I hadn’t read Hall’s author statements. They’re very seldom a good idea before consumption, and definitely tainted my experience of this text. Yet she claims to want to show the “real” King, the human being we can all become. Except the King character in this play just comes across as an everyman who’s barely got a speech together. There are perhaps two glimpses of any sort of intellectual or emotional greatness, and rather than expressing to me that I, too, could aspire to greatness, it felt like the typical pop-culture cop-out of presenting a hero as base so we all feel better about our crappy selves. King is horny and hits on the maid, loudly urinates just off-stage, bums cigarettes, and has coughing fits and stinky socks. If this man is great, then the play essentially says any slob is already what King was, which is disingenuous to offensive degrees.
If author statements hadn’t put that angle in my head, would I have been so cross? I think so, because the play is still making its hay off a mythological figure. The appeal isn’t a great character, but a base portrayal of a famous one, and it fails to create an amalgam of the everyman and the inspiration. It succeeds after its twist in examining what might come of the world after his death, using him as a crucible for us, a task for which the specter of King is routinely applied in popular culture.
I’m sorely tempted to spoil the twist, because the greatness of the play lies almost entirely on the other side. There is some very clever dialogue and twists on King’s biography and theology that make for a better experience and a better premise than what’s been advertised. This has likely left my review sounding far more negative than actually am about the play. One particular micro-conversation using the phone manages to be about as funny as anything from any play I’ve ever read.
I wish I hadn’t read Hall’s author statements. They’re very seldom a good idea before consumption, and definitely tainted my experience of this text. Yet she claims to want to show the “real” King, the human being we can all become. Except the King character in this play just comes across as an everyman who’s barely got a speech together. There are perhaps two glimpses of any sort of intellectual or emotional greatness, and rather than expressing to me that I, too, could aspire to greatness, it felt like the typical pop-culture cop-out of presenting a hero as base so we all feel better about our crappy selves. King is horny and hits on the maid, loudly urinates just off-stage, bums cigarettes, and has coughing fits and stinky socks. If this man is great, then the play essentially says any slob is already what King was, which is disingenuous to offensive degrees.
If author statements hadn’t put that angle in my head, would I have been so cross? I think so, because the play is still making its hay off a mythological figure. The appeal isn’t a great character, but a base portrayal of a famous one, and it fails to create an amalgam of the everyman and the inspiration. It succeeds after its twist in examining what might come of the world after his death, using him as a crucible for us, a task for which the specter of King is routinely applied in popular culture.
I’m sorely tempted to spoil the twist, because the greatness of the play lies almost entirely on the other side. There is some very clever dialogue and twists on King’s biography and theology that make for a better experience and a better premise than what’s been advertised. This has likely left my review sounding far more negative than actually am about the play. One particular micro-conversation using the phone manages to be about as funny as anything from any play I’ve ever read.
January 24, 2025
نمایشنامه قله کوه
کتوری هال
ترجمه فرنوش مرواری
نشر یکشنبه
تعداد صفحات 52
در پشت جلد می خوانید
بله، کارگرهای شهرداری ... تقریبا هزاران هزار نفر اون جا بودن. هزاران! همه و همه از پیرمردها گرفته تا دخترهای جوون و بچه ها. پلاکاردهایی تو دستشون بود که روش نوشته شده بود، من یک انسان هستم! من رو یه جورهایی بردن جلوی صف، دست های همدیگر رو گرفتیم و راهپیمایی کردیم. فریاد می زدیم"من یک انسان هستم!" هنوز یه چهارراه هم نرفته بودیم که دیدیم صدای شکستن شیشه ها میاد. من داشتم تو گردباد دست ها و پاها و سرفه و چماق جارو می شدم. من واقعا نمی خواستم اون آدمها رو ول کنم، کامایی. نمی خواستم ترکشون کنم ... اما آدم هام من رو انداختن تو یه ماشین در حال حرکت و ... من از پنجره ی عقب اون ماشین می دیدم که چطور یه راهپیمایی صلح آمیز و ساده به یه شورش و هیاهو تبدیل شده بود
کتوری هال
ترجمه فرنوش مرواری
نشر یکشنبه
تعداد صفحات 52
در پشت جلد می خوانید
بله، کارگرهای شهرداری ... تقریبا هزاران هزار نفر اون جا بودن. هزاران! همه و همه از پیرمردها گرفته تا دخترهای جوون و بچه ها. پلاکاردهایی تو دستشون بود که روش نوشته شده بود، من یک انسان هستم! من رو یه جورهایی بردن جلوی صف، دست های همدیگر رو گرفتیم و راهپیمایی کردیم. فریاد می زدیم"من یک انسان هستم!" هنوز یه چهارراه هم نرفته بودیم که دیدیم صدای شکستن شیشه ها میاد. من داشتم تو گردباد دست ها و پاها و سرفه و چماق جارو می شدم. من واقعا نمی خواستم اون آدمها رو ول کنم، کامایی. نمی خواستم ترکشون کنم ... اما آدم هام من رو انداختن تو یه ماشین در حال حرکت و ... من از پنجره ی عقب اون ماشین می دیدم که چطور یه راهپیمایی صلح آمیز و ساده به یه شورش و هیاهو تبدیل شده بود
March 30, 2023
I was definitely surprised by the parameters of this play, but in a positive way. This play had such an inspiring and interesting take on Dr. King, and in particular in his final hours on Earth. Additionally, this play allows for the complexities of Dr. King's identity to be examined, while also highlighting the extraordinary work that he did in his lifetime.
The ending of this play especially moved me, as it advocated towards a continuous fight that needs to be had for areas of justice and equality. Dr. King's legacy remains in us all, and we must keep fighting for important and positive change.
I would love to see this play performed one day.
The ending of this play especially moved me, as it advocated towards a continuous fight that needs to be had for areas of justice and equality. Dr. King's legacy remains in us all, and we must keep fighting for important and positive change.
I would love to see this play performed one day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2012
I have so many problems with the storyline of this play. I believe the purpose was to give a different view of Martin Luther King i.e. the "real" King but I guess because I never really thought that this man was a saint simply because he was a preacher or because of the tremendous work that he has done for the equal rights movement that I was not moved by the story at all. I don't want to say too much because I feel I'd be giving it away but I just felt that the story was unnecessary and a little disjointed at times. I also saw Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson perform it on stage and it was just as crazed. It gained some traction towards the end but I was disappointed. Even my friend was telling me she was waiting for it to be over. Great actors but again story....meh.
December 23, 2015
This won't take you long to read, but the message and imagery will be imprinted on your brain. This is the story of a man. It is a man we all know well, and yet hardly know at all. A man we look up to, almost fifty years after his death. A man whose dream we still aspire to. A man who talked openly about his dreams, about fairness, and about not getting to the Promised Land.
This is a play by Katori Hall in which she tells the story of the night before Martin Luther Kings death. She tells it in the simplest and most poignant form-in a conversation between King and his maid. It is beautiful, and honest. It shows him as a man, not as a preacher. I think this is amazing writing. Maybe someday I will see it on the stage.
This is a play by Katori Hall in which she tells the story of the night before Martin Luther Kings death. She tells it in the simplest and most poignant form-in a conversation between King and his maid. It is beautiful, and honest. It shows him as a man, not as a preacher. I think this is amazing writing. Maybe someday I will see it on the stage.
October 15, 2011
I approached The Mountaintop with a great deal of optimism that the play would knock me off my feet. As with most people, I've long had a fascination with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and thought that the premise of the play could yield successful results. However, as I started reading, I was often confused and surprised by what I was seeing. The protagonist of this drama is not the MLK we all know -- he drinks, he smokes, he's interested in women other than his wife, and he uses four-letter-words. However, what is best about the play is that by tearing away at the national myth we have for MLK as a civil rights icon, we get a glimpse of MLK as a man with flaws, vulnerabilities, and true conviction in his beliefs. By the end of the play, one not only is glad to have gone on the journey with the playwright, but has also been closer to someone who has long been thought of as sitting on a mountaintop above us. Everyone should give this thoughtful, witty, and well-written play a read.
February 17, 2024
3.5 stars.
The Mountaintop is a really interesting play that isn't really what I expected it to be. It tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr's last night before he was assassinated. It offers a portrayal of a real man rather than a perfect, vaunted leader, but it does so in a surreal way that makes it often feel like a dream. The shift that occurs in the middle of the play is really well done. It isn't my usual style, but I still enjoyed it, both for its emotional and spiritual awareness and for its sense of humour. I listened to the audio from LA Theatre Works, which I really enjoyed, especially the performance from Aja Naomi King. It's worth the read!
The Mountaintop is a really interesting play that isn't really what I expected it to be. It tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr's last night before he was assassinated. It offers a portrayal of a real man rather than a perfect, vaunted leader, but it does so in a surreal way that makes it often feel like a dream. The shift that occurs in the middle of the play is really well done. It isn't my usual style, but I still enjoyed it, both for its emotional and spiritual awareness and for its sense of humour. I listened to the audio from LA Theatre Works, which I really enjoyed, especially the performance from Aja Naomi King. It's worth the read!
December 12, 2016
I read the description and some reviews of this play before listening to the L.A. Theater Works radio play rendition. I was worried, given the subject of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night, that this might be an opportunity for the author to write distraught monologues. I was worried it would be more “preachy” and less enjoyable because of it. Gratefully, I found this was incorrect. In “The Mountaintop”, King is presented as a man, flawed but formidable, at times goofy, at times vain, but always knowing where he stood in the world and what his goals were. By the end, the author rebuilds the King that people think of now, the more saintly King, the one with content of character. I am sure there are those that want to only remember King in a serious and, yes, saintly light. They likely won’t like this. I found it enjoyable and thought provoking, and a reminder of the message that King presented.
March 8, 2013
There's no real conflict in the first 30 or so pages. All we know is that this is the night before Dr. King's death and a maid has brought him coffee. There's some fun genre bending and some really nice bits regarding Dr. King coming to terms with his imminent death, but they appear way too late in the play. These nice elements serve merely as devices that ascend the play not into greatness but simply away from awfulness and upon a plateau of mediocrity.
September 3, 2013
More a meditation than a play, in my opinion. Interesting how the play takes a mystical turn after working very hard to DEmystify Dr. King. Dyson's introduction sets it up well, as this is a good reminder of how lionized historical figures always had clay feet. While it is speculative, the playwright brings in very human details based on lesser known facts about Dr. King's life. To deify the man undermines his legacy, so I'm glad this play was written.
April 21, 2021
What an amazing piece of art! SO beautifully written and moving, truly and stunning piece of theatre.
April 9, 2021
It's the man and not the legend of the man that graces the pages of Katori Hall's "The Moutaintop", a fictional take on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last night on Earth. She craftily avoids the expectation that this show could be a woeful dirge by injecting humor and whimsy in all the right places. A strange visit from a beautiful hotel maid helps Dr. King face his imminent death and embrace that his legacy will be left with the people and the movement he has championed. Theatricality literally blooms from the tears of an angel, and the final time-capsule of images is sure to be even more powerful on stage than it was on page.
November 2, 2019
OH wow. This just made me cry for the last half of an hour and hit rewind. I am a huge MLK jr fan, but I have always hoped if he had lived longer than he did he would have come to see women as equal.
This play captured the dichotomy of a great person who was not perfect. The language is rough, but it was beautiful. Only an hour, I listened to the CD from the library. So, glad I did.
Will it hurt?
You will not feel the pain, the world will...
This play captured the dichotomy of a great person who was not perfect. The language is rough, but it was beautiful. Only an hour, I listened to the CD from the library. So, glad I did.
Will it hurt?
You will not feel the pain, the world will...
August 19, 2020
I listened to the performance of this and it was absolutely incredible.
March 18, 2021
I really wish to see this in a theatre. It would be an amazing experience.
January 17, 2022
This surprised me. Brilliant play!
July 22, 2023
Whoa! I am so glad I had no idea what to expect. Amazingly powerful play packed into 82 pages that flew by.
March 4, 2022
This was a beautiful (albeit sometimes confusing) piece of art that inspires people to continue fighting for justice even when leaders are taken down. It also beautifully explores themes of mortality and time, a gentle reminder that we can't do it all, but also a celebration of what we are able to accomplish.
January 30, 2024
I actually really liked it. The development, the characters, seeing MLK as just a man for the first time, seeing raw emotion and fear..but.... The fucking intro omg
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2014
It's a very interesting idea to humanize an important historical figure like Martin Luther King Jr. This device allows for readers/audiences to view King, who has been idolized for several decades, as a normal person with flaws as opposed to a g-d-like man. I'm not sure if it was well executed in this piece though. Granted, I'm not sure whether or not that's because I have been raised starry-eyed at his achievements or if its because I disliked the authors choices. I'm not sure I know enough about the man to decide. He is characterized as a womanizer, constantly hitting on Camae.
I did like the way the author showed King as a fearful man. I think it's something we don't focus on, but should. That we as people share one common thing: fear. And even the man that most of us see as courageous was also fearful throughout his efforts for freedom. That was really a beautiful enlightenment that Hall brought to my attention.
I did like the way the author showed King as a fearful man. I think it's something we don't focus on, but should. That we as people share one common thing: fear. And even the man that most of us see as courageous was also fearful throughout his efforts for freedom. That was really a beautiful enlightenment that Hall brought to my attention.
November 20, 2014
A good quick read, easily can be finished in a day. I approached "The Mountaintop" with a great deal of optimism and was very happy with the result. The protagonist of this drama is not the MLK we read about in history books: he is a drinker,smoker,a womanizer,and even cusses. More importantly he is a man that has fears. I find that this is one of the best qualities about the play, Hall tears away at the purity of image that we as a society have created for MLK as a civil rights icon. Katori Hall levels the playing field and we get a glimpse of MLK as a man with flaws, vulnerabilities, but more importantly had true conviction in his beliefs. Without giving too much of the story away about the relationship between him and the hotel maid named Camae,I highly recommend that everyone should give this play a good read!
April 16, 2015
REALLY enjoyed reading this. It's a great take on the night of his death. Very creative. I also really loved the future part that kind of put things in the air. It was specific about people and events but he future from the point it was published make me think of the recent deaths that have been brought to the media's attention (The War on Black Men). It makes me wonder how MLK would feel today.
My favorite part was when Camae brings up Malcolm X and makes it clear that he and MLK are equal and both "will go to heaven" because it's clear who America glorifies. Great read!
My favorite part was when Camae brings up Malcolm X and makes it clear that he and MLK are equal and both "will go to heaven" because it's clear who America glorifies. Great read!
December 16, 2017
I struggle with how to write the review on this. Do not read many reviews as this would be easy to ruin for yourself. Do yourself a favor and just listen to it. I am sure the written word is good but the LA Works Theatre version of this is powerful and VERY well done.
I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 because of Language. I had a hard time getting past some of the swearing (I LOVE TO SWEAR, so it was odd that it was off putting). The last 7 minutes of this performance are genius.
I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 because of Language. I had a hard time getting past some of the swearing (I LOVE TO SWEAR, so it was odd that it was off putting). The last 7 minutes of this performance are genius.
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June 5, 2013WOw! It was not what I thought it would be. One of my favorite passages is...I can't really say what my favorite passage is because I love the whole play. I think everyone should read this...It promotes thoughts and inspires one to change and to change their environments...I must read!
January 1, 2013
I flat-out loved it. Nothing can take away the legacy of Dr. King. So much as been written about him to keep the dream alive, that we rarely dare to take a glimpse at what may have been, the man behind the dream. Vivid, daring and hilarious writing by, Katori Hall.
February 17, 2013
Wow.. this was very interesting. I'm very impressed. For a minute it was foggy on knowing if what was happening was projected to be "real" or an simply an "illusion". Definitely a twist in characters; I really enjoyed it.
April 8, 2013
Have not read many plays in recent years but read this one for book club. I really enjoyed it. It provides an alternative view of Martin Luther King as a man. Would love to see the actual play.
December 21, 2016
I sobbed like a baby reading this. This is EVERYTHING.
October 15, 2018
Devastating, of course. I would love to see the play.
July 8, 2019
I didn't particularly like seeing/hearing and the feeling of King as was written. I hope their play did well financially, but not something I would have like to pay to see.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews