SAmual L. Jackson photo Joan Marcus


Angela Bassett photo by Joan Marcus

History and fantasy make for strange bedfellows in Katori Hall’s new play The Mountaintop. It invites us to join the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a mysterious stranger on his last night at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. And as intriguing as the premise sounds, her play doesn’t really deliver any fresh or penetrating insights on the great preacher and civil rights leader.

Hall has the legendary Dr. King (Samuel L. Jackson) alone onstage for the first 15 minutes of the play. And she’s intent on portraying the man, and not the plaster saint. Historically, Dr. King had delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at Mason Temple earlier that day. But Hall carefully plays down his visionary personality and high-flown rhetoric. In fact, we watch an exhausted Dr. King settling into Room 306 (nicknamed the “King Abernathy suite”) to retire, with a lightning storm raging outside. We watch King loosen his tie, hear him urinate, and moments later, pick up the phone to order room service. And soon enough, an attractive motel maid named Carmae (Angela Bassett) arrives at his door with coffee and a rain-soaked newspaper over her head. And, in the following scenes, we get the comic spectacle of a young woman coming face to face with her hero.

The dialogue between the plucky Camae and the famous preacher is a hodge-podge of history and high-spirited banter. True, the verbal jokes aren’t always sustained by the internal dynamic of the play. But the chemistry between them is palpable, and lends a definite sexual tension to the evening. What Hall is writing about is fascinating and important. But, oddly, the play seems to lose momentum early on. And even though civil rights issues are frequently pulled into the conversation, there’s just too much verbal chaff tossed in with the wheat here.
The play is historical fiction. And it has a surprising hairpin twist at midpoint that puts us betwixt and between reality and fantasy. And that’s all I will say here, as I don’t want to spoil anything for future ticket holders.

Unfortunately, the excellent actor Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do With It) is miscast as the motel maid Carmae. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Halle Berry was initially cast in the role but withdrew early on. Bassett, who subsequently auditioned, took the part in a beat. Even so, Bassett seems to be wrong for this working class part, and overacts in many of her scenes. In contrast, her co-star Samuel L. Jackson is a glove-in-hand fit for the famous civil rights leader. And he has no difficulty stepping into Kings’ metaphorical shoes here.
Incidentally, one of the bigger laughs of the evening is that King had smelly shoes. Other things we learn along the way are that his detractors twitted him with monikers like “Chicken a la King” and “Martin Loser King.” Although the play lacks psychological depth and doesn’t always ring true with former biographical portraits, it does have its share of comic lines.

Director Kenny Leon falls short of the mark too. Leon, who brought us the Tony Award-winning production of Fences in 2010, appears to work better with non-legendary figures. In any case, his fans won’t have to wait long before seeing his next Broadway production. His Stick Fly arrives on the scene this December.

If there is a star turn in the production, it belongs to set designer David Gallo. Gallo has fashioned a suitably seedy motel room, which, in its low ceiling and rectangular shape, eerily evokes a tomb. In fact, as the action unfolds, and Camae and King’s conversation grows more sobering, this room seems to shrink to near casket dimensions. Gallo’s superb set almost compensates for the play’s considerable flaws. And in the final 10 minutes, he presents the audience with a panoramic coup de theatre that is utterly breathtaking.

Coming on the heels of last season’s British import Jerusalem, The Mountaintop is a disappointing production. It was enthusiastically received in London, garnering much critical acclaim and winning the 2010 Olivier Award. But in crossing the Atlantic, The Mountaintop has, to the chagrin of many New York theatergoers, lost altitude.

The Mountaintop
At the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, located at 242 W. 45th Street
For tickets, phone (212) 239-6200 or visit http://www.telecharge.com
Through January 15th.
Review courtesy of http://www.intermissionmag.com