Round House Theatre stages a steady production of Katori Hall’s absorbing if uneven historical fantasy, which reimagines Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night.
“The Mountaintop” doesn’t scale the summit of its ambitions until its final moments at Round House Theatre, as spoken-word poetry and video projections make the most of the play’s ethereal trappings. Otherwise, this absorbing if uneven historical fantasy about Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night is at its best when rooted in reality — reveling in a saintly figure’s unguarded moments and uncomfortable foibles.This King, you see, is imbued with imperfection.
socks. When he isn’t inviting infidelity and making moves on Camae , the plucky maid who brings late-night coffee to Room 306 of Memphis’s Lorraine Motel, he’s dismissing her with casual sexism or whipping through paranoia-driven mood swings.Under Delicia Turner Sonnenberg’s steady direction, “The Mountaintop” humanizes a larger-than-life figure while reflecting on his outsize legacy.
Style is where The Washington Post covers happenings on the front lines of culture and what it all means, including the arts, media, social trends, politics and yes, fashion, all told with personality and deep reporting. For more Style stories,embraces the artifice of King’s dignified image while theatrically deepening his voice on the phone or purposefully strutting around Paige Hathaway’s motel room set .
King’s clairvoyance is the crux of Hall’s fantastical conceit, which occasionally veers the play into rote melodrama and hit-or-miss comic relief. As Camae, King’s unlikely companion during his existential reckoning, Brown lends a mischievous edge to an endearing but inconsistently sketched character. Alternately flirtatious and combative, the duo’s chemistry pushes along a tale that feels even leaner than its 100-minute run time would suggest.
Nick Hernandez’s savvy sound design ups the tension, with ominous cracks of thunder amid the rainfall’s omnipresent patter. The soundscapes also evoke the chaos of police crackdowns on nonviolent marches, in a sequence accompanied by Zavier A.L. Taylor’s striking projections . Using kinetic pencil-drawn imagery at times and rotoscope-style animation at others, Taylor’s design takes center stage during that tear-jerking finale as King gets a glimpse of his enduring influence.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
WTI pulls back amid possible US-Venezuela Oil deal amid Middle East tensionsWest Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US Crude Oil benchmark, retreats after testing the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) on news the US and Venez
Read more »
Human remains in some Museum of Natural History displays to be removed amid controversyMuseum of Natural History President Sean Decatur told NBC New York that the AMNH will be removing exhibit elements 'that include human remains from 12 display…
Read more »
USS Mason deploys from Mayport to eastern Mediterranean amid Israel-Hamas warThe USS Mason deployed from Naval Station Mayport Friday for the eastern Mediterranean. It’s part of an effort to deter hostile actions against Israel and an expansion of the war underway.
Read more »
Mayor Brandon Johnson announces citywide composting initiative amid promises to reopen long-shuttered Department of EnvironmentThe Department of Streets and Sanitation will implement its first-ever citywide composting initiative by allowing citizens to drop off household food scraps at any of 15 locations free of charge.
Read more »
LinkedIn to lay off hundreds of people amid broader restructuringThe company is optimizing around artificial intelligence.
Read more »