Share A Space With Dr. King at THE MOUNTAINTOP at Tipping Point Theatre

54 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis, TN to speak for and march with Sanitation Workers there. Dr. King found himself feeling under the weather upon his arrival and made a decision to skip the speech he was scheduled to give at Mason Temple, sending his friend Rev. Ralph Abernathy instead.

Upon arrival and seeing the large crowd that was energized and expecting to see Dr. King speak, Abernathy implored him to come and he did just that. King ended up speaking for 40 minutes, feeding off of the crowd and delivering his final speech, now known as the Mountaintop. It is back in room 306 of The Lorraine Motel that night that Katori Hall's masterful script begins.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is preparing to lay down for the night but hopeful for one of his favorite vices - a cigarette. As he awaits Abernathy's return with a pack of Pall Malls, the thundering storm grows and brings a beautiful maid to his room. The company of this stranger cultivates a space for a seldomly portrayed restless Dr. King as he learns that it is his last night on earth and him meeting this stranger was not a mere coincidence.

An Olivier Award winning play, The Mountaintop, was written by playwright Katori Hall. A Memphis native, she grew up with the history of Dr. King all around her. Inspiration for the story came from her mother's experience as a 15 year old. She longed to march with the civil rights activist himself and planned to go see King at the Mason Temple on April 3rd but, due to fear of violence, she did not attend. Hall says it was one of her mother's biggest regrets as King's death was the very next day. "I wanted to put both of them in the same room," Hall said in an NPR interview back in 2011, "and give my mother that opportunity that she didn't have in 1968." Named after her mother, the mysterious maid Camae joins King on his final night where we see a vividly human portrayal of Martin, as a whole. "A warts and all" look at Dr. King may not be what patrons are used to seeing but Hall felt "by portraying him with his flaws and foibles, we, too, can see - as human beings who have these flaws - that we, too, can be Kings; we, too, can carry on that baton that he has passed down to us."

The piece is a beautiful tale of the historical, irreverent figure King was that blends the past with current events. The show's focus on how far we have come as a society and how far we still have to go runs parallel to the theatre's own initiatives in their first season back since the pandemic started in 2020. "We took the time to reflect on what was going really well for us but also correct the things that we were falling short on," said Producing Artistic Director James Kuhl. Their journey began with a new mission, core values and the implementation of an Anti Racism statement and policies. The theatre is focusing on increasing the diversity seen at every level of the organization. This fact is notably highlighted with The Mountaintop being their first show from a Black playwright on the main stage that also features their first all Black cast. With the hiring of new staff members, creating new systems & values for the organization as a whole, and the desire to move forward producing works of art that encompass every human experience explicitly, The Mountaintop is helping pave a new and conscious road in the Northville theatre's history.

The Mountaintop runs May 19th - June 18th, in Downtown Northville. Conveniently located by the bustling downtown area, patrons can enjoy public parking and numerous local restaurants and boutiques before or after the performance. Tickets are on sale now through their box office at 248-347-0003 or online at www.TippingPointTheatre.com. Discounts include $2 off for seniors and military with students 26 years or younger able to purchase tickets for just $10. Groups of 15 or more receive a $3 discount that can be combined with the senior rate for a total of $5 off. Their current Covid-19 policies require properly fitted masks to be worn at all times in their intimate space for the safety of the artists on the stage.

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