{"id":245914,"date":"2013-03-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/dr-king-at-the-mountaintop\/"},"modified":"2013-03-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T07:00:00","slug":"dr-king-at-the-mountaintop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/dr-king-at-the-mountaintop\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. King at the mountaintop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong>REP\u2019s latest keeps secrets that unfold through exceptional acting<\/p>\n

Por Charlene Baldridge | Cr\u00edtico de Teatro SDUN<\/p>\n

Through March 31, San Diego Repertory Theatre presents the West Coast premiere of Katori Hall\u2019s \u201cThe Mountaintop,\u201d billed as a drama about the last night in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
(l to r) Danielle Mon\u00e9 Truitt and Larry Bates (Photo by Daren Scott)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The civil rights leader was assassinated April 4, 1968 on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tenn.<\/p>\n

A graduate of The Juilliard School, Hall is the author of \u201cHoodoo Love,\u201d seen last season at Mo\u2019olelo Theatre. \u201cThe Mountaintop\u201d received the 2010 Olivier Award for best new play and recently played on Broadway, starring Angela Bassett and Samuel S. Jackson.<\/p>\n

Theatergoers who experienced \u201cHoodoo Love\u201d know that Hall employs excursions into other realms of reality. Knowing and allowing that prepares one for \u201cThe Mountaintop.\u201d Where one might expect to find a man preparing his next speech and ruing the slim turnout for that day\u2019s \u201cI\u2019ve Been to the Mountaintop\u201d delivered in the rain, Hall gives much more.<\/p>\n

San Diego REP\u2019s \u201cMountaintop\u201d director, Roger Guenveur Smith, cast two exceptional West Coast actors in Hall\u2019s play: Larry Bates as Dr. King and Danielle Mon\u00e9 Truitt as Camae, the sassy hotel maid who brings him a cup of coffee, shares her cigarettes (pantomimed) and flask, and provides the play\u2019s unanticipated twist.<\/p>\n

At first one suspects that the attractive Camae may have plans to seduce the man she so admires and who is a known womanizer. Power attracts and God knows this man is attractive, fallible and human. Apparently this is what King expects of Camae. To divulge that the woman has a hidden agenda may come as no surprise to theatergoers, yet to reveal more would be a spoiler.<\/p>\n

Let us just say that the gradual unfolding of Camae\u2019s mission \u2013 carried out with great humor and intelligence \u2013 is surprising and even thrilling. Certainly a feminist, she has one insouciant, defiant speech after another. Truitt\u2019s extreme skill at building her character and delivering Hall\u2019s irreverent words is motivation to attend.<\/p>\n

Bates resembles Dr. King somewhat, which helps create the illusion of a conflicted man about to become martyr. King is tired; bone tired. There is little fire in the man this night, certainly a challenge for Bates the actor to limn without delivering a lackluster performance. In his hands King becomes extra human, and one feels that is Hall\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n

Without humor the piece would definitely sink. Without fine actors it would bomb.<\/p>\n

As affecting as it is, and as fine as these actors are, once its secrets are revealed, Hall\u2019s play seems to loop around and around, making little progress toward the mountaintop. When achieved, it is bleak.<\/p>\n

Scenic designer Christopher Ward provides a set evocative of room 304 at the Lorraine Hotel. Sherrice Kelly\u2019s lighting and Marc Anthony Thomson\u2019s lighting and sound give onlookers a thrilling storm, replete with thunderclaps and lightning. Anastasia Pautova\u2019s chambermaid getup is deliciously off the wall, and King\u2019s attire is appropriate though perhaps not as worn as the man.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018The Mountaintop\u2019<\/strong>
\nWHERE: San Diego Repertory Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza (Downtown)<\/strong>
\nWHEN: Thurs. \u2013 Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., and selected Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Through March 31.<\/strong>
\nINFO: 619-544-1000<\/strong>
\nWEB: sdrep.org<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0REP\u2019s latest keeps secrets that unfold through exceptional acting By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theater Critic Through March 31, San Diego Repertory Theatre presents the West Coast premiere of Katori Hall\u2019s \u201cThe Mountaintop,\u201d billed as a drama about the last night in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Dr. King at the mountaintop","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}