William Thomas Hodgson as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sam Jackson as Camae in Oakland Theater Project’s “The Mountaintop”. Photo by Adam Montanaro.
Reality is only a loose guideline in Katori Hall’s drama The Mountaintop, now on at Oakland Theater Project. The night before his 1968 assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (William Thomas Hodgson) sits alone in his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He calls down for coffee, which is delivered by a wise eyed maid named Camae (Sam Jackson). This 90 minute drama begins with mischievous flirtation but veers into existential explorations of religion, mortality, and death.
Collaboratively directed with sly humor and a sharp understanding of the issues at hand by James Mercer II and Michael Socrates Moran, the first thing the audience encounters is a set that looks like both a hotel room and the grave of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Images of key moments from the civil rights movement flash on screen to Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” The grave, or “bed,” is made up of white feathers, reminiscent of angel wings.
Sam Jackson as Camae in Oakland Theater Project’s “The Mountaintop”. Photo by Adam Montanaro.
At first Camae is all play as she struts, flirts, smokes, and mixes whiskey into King’s coffee. Her motives are a mystery as King shifts from powerful orator to a man frightened of death. Hall incorporates biographical details, including King’s heart condition, and parts of his last speech, given on April 3, 1968. Topics range from Vietnam and King’s nonviolent agenda to the Black Panthers, as King and Camae circle one another in a battle of wits that touches on gender inequality and infidelity. Though these subjects firmly place us in 1968, they never overwhelm the human story at the center.
Camae surprises King by proving to be his intellectual equal. William Thomas Hodgson does an admirable job of balancing the man and the myth that is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., capturing both his moral authority and his vulnerability. However, it is Sam Jackson’s Camae who holds us in her clever thrall from the moment she steps onstage. By turns playful, piercing, and profound, she drives the evening’s emotional arc.
William Thomas Hodgson as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Oakland Theater Project’s “The Mountaintop”. Photo by Adam Montanaro.
Equal parts uplifting and devastating, The Mountaintop serves as a stark reminder of what is at stake when civil rights are threatened. As Moran writes in the program, “Dr. King reminds us of the great, strange and sweet paradox that we are most free when we enable someone else to be their best self.”
An intelligent and timely choice, Oakland Theater Project’s The Mountaintop runs until Feb. 15 at Flax, 1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. For tickets, visit oaklandtheaterproject.org.
