Miller Center to present ‘The Mountain Top’ about King’s last day

READING » L.A. Theatre Works comes to stage at the Miller Center on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. with a performance of “The Mountaintop” by the acclaimed playwright Katori Hall and performed by L. A. Theatre Works.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside room 306 of The Lorraine Motel in Memphis. What happened inside room 306 the night before the killing is a mystery. In her internationally acclaimed play, “The Mountaintop,” playwright Katori Hall fantasizes what may have transpired in the overnight hours between the legendary civil rights leader and a seemingly inconsequential hotel maid.

Winner of the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Play, “The Mountaintop” is rife with humor and political jabs, while giving us a glimpse at the human side of Martin Luther King Jr. Hours after his famed final speech, punctuated by the immortal line, “I’ve been to the mountaintop,” the celebrated Reverend reveals his hopes, regrets, and fears, creating a masterful bridge between mortality and immortality. In 2018, America and the world marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr., yet, struggles to resolve racial tension remain a challenge for communities everywhere.

For more than 25 years, L. A. Theatre Works (LATW) has been the foremost radio theater company in the United States. Broadcast in America on NPR, internationally on the BBC, and in China on Beijing Foreign Broadcast, LATW has single-handedly brought live theater into the homes of millions.

Presented in partnership with the NAACP Reading Branch #2289, the performance of “The Mountaintop” is the culmination of a week of events celebrating America’s Civil Rights Movement. Other events include free screenings of four episodes of the award-winning documentary series “Eyes on the Prize” on Tuesday and Thursday, February 6 and 8, and a display of books and publications on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement from Reading Area Community College’s Yocum Library throughout the week.

Tickets for “The Mountaintop” are $32 Adult, $27 Member and may be purchased by calling the Miller Center box office at 610.607.6270 or visiting millercenter.racc.edu.