The Pittsburgh Tatler: The setting of Katori Hall’s play The Mountaintop (currently running at City Theatre) reveals nearly everything we need to know about what is at stake in the action: “Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee, April 3, 1968” – the evening before Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony outside that very room. It is a dark and stormy night; and the cliché of that opening seems a deliberate one, an early indication of the play’s interest in taking its audience on a journey from stereotype and “what we (think we) know” to the unexpected surprises that are revealed when clichés, stereotypes, and everything we (think we) know is subjected to closer inspection.
1 comment:
I saw this play when it was first in previews in New York City Off-Broadway about two years ago. Going to see this play was definitely an experience I will never forget. This review is very accurate in describing the effect the play has over its audiences. "The Mountaintop" is deeply moving and inspiring. What I remember from the play most is the reactions of the audience members around me. Normally, when I go to the theatre, the audience is relatively quiet, albeit applause, laughs, and the occasional cell phone ring. However, when I went to see "The Mountaintop," this was not the case at all. The audience members around me were verbally and physically reacting to what was going on onstage. I remember thinking that this play was so strong that it led people to have these sorts of reactions. I am curious to see if Pittsburgh audiences will react to "The Mountaintop" in the same way New York audiences did. No matter the reaction, I have no doubt it will be deep and strong.
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