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| Amanda Warren and Jon Michael Hill |
By Joe Straw
The Geffen Playhouse is a wonderful theatre just off the UCLA campus in Westwood. Coming into the house is an experience, yes, a pleasant experience, a garden outside before you enter the doors, a place to sit and engage in conversation, and a bar off to the right side to have drinks, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, the coffee is exceptional and add chocolate bar to the mix and everything is more than fine.
The ushers have a resolved attitude, but pleasant when spoken to, and very amiable when asked of something. Going into the theatre is a ten out of ten experience.
The Geffen Playhouse Production of The Mountaintop written by Katori Hall and directed by Patricia McGregor is now playing through July 9th, 2023.
For tonight’s show, time is an expression of the weary. Not enough time, too much time, never enough time, time is of the essence, needing time, just enough time for a cigarette, the necessity of time, critical time, and so on.
The time is late into the night April 3rd, 1968, in the room 306, the King-Abernathy suite of the tenebrous Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. A cold Tennessee rain falls, the keyed door scrapes against the frame and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (Jon Michael Hill) running out of time on this date, the day before his assassination, pushes his way into the dingy hotel room.
As an afterthought Dr. King re-opens the door and yells to Reverend Ralph David Abernathy (not seen) to get him a pack of Pall Malls. King knows the room well, having spent time there. He looks at the bile carpet and doubles over in a coughing fit. Whether it’s a reaction to the carpet, or a cigarette deprivation, time will ultimately tell.
No time but the present, King takes a moment to review his upcoming speech “Why American is going to Hell” making sure that his room is not being bugged before calling room service to order a cup of coffee.
But ordering room service on this night is slightly suspicious, different than what he is accustomed to. Room service is closed, that’s never happened, especially at this time early at night, but they agree to send him one cup of coffee.
And, almost as soon as he hangs up the phone with Corrie, his wife, there is a knock at the door. Time being what it is, he is expecting the Reverend Abernathy. But when he opens the door Camae (Amanda Warren), from room service, unexpectedly smiles in the doorway holding a newspaper and a tray with a cup of coffee.
Camae is deliciously tall and rapturously noticed by that same person in the room as she tidies up a bit.
“You need anything else ‘fore I go?” – Camae
“Actually…if you got a cigarette…” – King
And so, starts a relationship of sorts. King doesn’t want to smoke alone, and they both engage in a little flirtatious conversation until he convinces her to smoke with him until the Reverend comes back with his pack of cigarettes.
But Camae sets some boundaries knowing where the conversation is going even confessing that her uncle couldn’t help himself when it came to her. So, she changes the conversation, expressing her thoughts to him having so much fun giving speeches and getting a little foul mouthed when doing so.
Here I is just a’cussin’ all up in front of you, Dr. Kang. I cuss worser than a sailor with the clap. Oooo, God gone get me! I’m goin’ to hell just for cussin’ in front of you. Fallin’ straight to hell. – Camae
“No Ma’am, ‘cordin’ to your face, yo done fell straight from heaven.” – King
Hmmm.
Not all is as it seems. Natori Hall has written a wonderful play that has many twists and turns along the way and is engaging from the first moment to the end. Those dramatic turns even cross the imaginative boundaries of space and time. Everyone has a story of this type of interruption in their lifetime, some not so articulate, but Hall manages to weave a surprising tale of time, with moments so engaging, and surprising that it leaves one breathless. It’s no wonder that Natori Hall has two shows presently running in Los Angeles which is almost unheard of, including Tina at the wonderful Pantages Theater.
Patricia McGregor, the director, manages to secure the best from her performers with nuances in character that highlights every moment on stage. The extraordinary precision of those unspoken moments are seldom seen in any production. In short, it is a magnificent work of art.
Jon Michael Hill is exceptional as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taking each moment with the precision of a watchmaker. The moments are real, the anger is real complete with imperceptible shaking, and the tears come from the heart. It is one of the finest performances you will see this year should you venture out to The Geffen.
Amanda Warren is wonderful as Camae (briefly defined meaning as the seeker of knowledge). Warren has a powerful voice that could easily bounce off the back wall of the Geffen Playhouse. Each moment of her performance was wonderfully expresses, even the silent moments, the unreadable stare, the shaking of her head, the impenetrable expressions, and the way she comfortably glides about the room.
One can’t help but fill uplifted when exiting the Geffen after witnessing both performances.
Brian Nelson, Jr., and Courtney Thomas are understudies and did not perform on this night.
Scenic Designer Rachel Myers has Room 306 upstage that moves downstage when the performance begins bringing the lives of the character that much closer and more intimate. The movement brings the lives to fire on this night. There are also some very dramatic moments with the show that play-out later in this 90-minute production!
Other members of this fantastic crew are as follows.
Mylette Nora – Costume Designer
Lap Chi Chu – Lighting Designer
Cricket S. Myers – Sound Designer
Yee Eun Nam – Projection Designer
Dennis Whitehead Darling – Associate Director
Sasha Nicolle Smith – Intimacy & Fight Director
Rebecca Phillips Epstein – Dramaturg
Alyssa Escalante – Production Stage Manager
Amber R. Dettmers – Assistant Stage Manager
Phyllis Schuringa, CSA – Casting Director
Run! Run! Run!