The Mountaintop

In a Memphis motel, on the last night of his life, Martin Luther King waits - for the storm, for his smokes, for the Last Judgement. Playwright Katori Hall has set herself some task, putting words in the mouth of one of the great orators. But she and the cast meet the challenge rather as King met his: head on, with misgivings but without hesitation, and always with the right words. King is not portrayed as God (he couldn't be, in any case, since we are reliably informed that although God is black, She's a woman). But he does have elements of Jesus, and not just because he's about to be martyred. He too foresees death and fears it, despite understanding that it may accomplish more than it destroys; this is his personal version of the conflict he sees all about him between the general good and individual self-interest. David Harewood, warbling perfectly à la King, proffers a beautifully balanced portrait of a man with holes in his socks, lust in his pants but God in his head. And Lorraine Burroughs as the foul-mouthed maid is a sparky sparring partner.