Unique 2-person play in Northville examines final hours of MLK's life

While an opera based on the life of Malcolm X plays in downtown Detroit, Northville's Tipping Point Theatre offers a look at the final hours of Martin Luther King Jr. with "The Mountaintop," opening May 21 and running through June 18.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright Katori Hall’s piece depicts King’s last night on earth, in room 306 of Memphis’ Lorraine Motel, where he would be assassinated the following day. In the hours after his “Mountaintop” speech — his final address — he unwinds for the evening in his room, longing for a cigarette when a young maid arrives at his room. The conversation that takes place between them as King learns not only her purpose, but ultimately his own, forms the spine of the two-person show.

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Hall, a Memphis native, grew up surrounded by King’s legacy, and was inspired by her mother in the writing of “The Mountaintop.” At age 15, her mother longed to march with King and planned to see his speech in Memphis that night, but stayed home due to fear of violence. It was one of her biggest regrets, as he died the very next day.

“I wanted to put both of them in the same room and give my mother that opportunity that she didn’t have in 1968,” Hall told NPR in 2011, when the play first opened on Broadway.

The motel maid character is named after her mother, Carrie Mae.

The play is unique in its examination of King as a man, rather than a legend. It won an Olivier Award for its 2011 Broadway run starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett.

Hall said, “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 Mountaintop” comes during Tipping Point’s first season back in action since 2020.

It is the theater’s first show from a Black playwright on the mainstage, and also features its first all-Black cast. Nigel Tutt (as King) and Faith Berry (as Carrie Mae) are directed by Vincent Ford Jr.

The theater has decided to boost diversity at every level of the organization, with a new mission, core values and the implementation of an anti-racism statement and policies. With those come a focus on producing works that highlight varied shades of the human experience.

“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.

Tickets for “The Mountaintop” begin at $33, with discounts available for students, seniors, military and groups. Purchases can be made at TippingPointTheatre.com or by calling 248-347-0003.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'The Mountaintop,' on MLK's final hours, to open at Northville theater