A Special Guest Review of The Mountaintop at the Citadel Theatre!

 I was unable to use my ticket to The Mountaintop at the Citadel this past weekend (Easter plans) and having seen the show before I passed along my ticket to my thoughtful friend, John Anderson, who had wanted to see the show. So, here is a "Special Guest Review" Post for the show!

Similar to the play itself, the Citadel’s new production of Katori Hall’s play, The Mountaintop, is deceptively simple at first glance. The story is a fictional reimagining of how Martin Luther King spent his last night alive, right after he returns from delivering his famous final sermon, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop. At his room in Lorraine Motel, King encounters an eccentric and mysterious room service attendant, Camae. With her company, MLK experiences his final moments of privacy in life.

John C. Dinning’s Set Design combines realism and abstract to tell its story. The motel room is entirely what one would expect from a real life motel room, but the borders of the stage present something else… Like all famous people, MLK was surrounded and trapped by fame. Even alone in his room, he is never allowed to be alone. All along the edges of the Maclab Theatre stage, there are strewn newspapers, letters, documents, communications, facts, opinions, and destiny. Upstage from the room, there are clouds that Jeff Osterlin’s lights dance across to effectively make it seem as though the clouds are really moving. Occasionally, Dave Clarke’s thunder booms and roars to remind MLK of the danger his life is in.

Ray Strachan is tremendous as King. His physical and vocal control seem effortlessly natural, despite clearly intentional choices in every moment. With all MLK’s fame and renown, it would be easy to fall for the wrong choice and portray King with an inhuman level of gravitas. Thankfully, the script, direction, and performance all draw the character in a more human and therefore compelling light. Once Patricia Cerra enters the motel room as the enthralling Camae, the two actors own the stage thanks to their talents, but also thanks to very strong direction from Patricia Darbasie. She has done wonders with her cast. King and Camae’s chemistry as channeled through the actors is delightfully engaging, especially when the conversations take unexpected turns.

In the finale of the play, there is a repeated phrase about contribution and progression: “The baton passes on”. With their production of The Mountaintop, Patricia Darbasie and her team have successfully passed it along to Edmonton audiences.

- John Anderson – April 1st, 2024

The Mountaintop runs to April 21st at The Citadel Theatre. Tickets range from $35.00 to $125.00 and can be purchased here. 

My thanks to John for the awesome review! I hope you all get to catch the show while it's here!

Theatre Alberta - Theatre in Alberta - A Board Meeting in Calgary and a Trip to The Mountaintop

This past weekend I took a trip to Calgary for one of my quarterly Theatre Alberta Board Meetings.  This was a big one, chock full of great conversation about what Theatre Alberta is and what we want it to be in order to best serve theatre practitioners in the province.  We also had time for strategic planning to look forward into the future.  That's always a challenge because you never know what the future will bring, but the optimism and vision of this Board is inspiring to me.  We have a fabulous mix of people on the Board from a variety of theatre practices and above-all they are all invested in the cultivation of a healthy arts culture within the province. We also have amazing Staff and every Board meeting I leave more impressed with those who do the front line work. I drove done with one of our relatively new Board members and this was not only great company for the drive, but it also gave me the opportunity to get to know her better and she is delightful.

One of the other things we did was take in Theatre Calgary's production of The Mountaintop.  I was very glad to be able to do this.  As you may well have guessed from the contents of this blog, I love to see theatre, and in particular I love to see a great variety of theatre of different types and in different spaces produced by different artists, so this was a great treat!

The play was very well done and it was a fascinating 'what if' story of the last night of Martin Luther King Jr.'s (Kevin Hanchard) life.  A visitor comes to the room but it becomes clear that she is more than what she seems.  I guessed early on that something was up with Camae (Beryl Bain) as there was a manner to her that seemed a little at odds with what she purported to be.  Both Hanchard and Bain were strong playing off each other and although the piece is overall respectful of King's memory, it also does not forget that he was a real man. I will say I liked the first 75 minutes of the show, but I absolutely LOVED the final 15 minutes. I think the pace could have picked up in some place early on, but that might just be the wanting to get there in retrospect.  The ending very much answered my most important question about any play, "Why this play now?" in a flash and boom!  It made me think and continues to make me think.

I do have to say one thing though.  We were in the second balcony and I thought I was going to pass out from the heat. Heat rises and boy did it ever.  It was a real relief to walk down the stairs to the lobby after the show.  I would have stood for the bows, but with the heat I was a little worried about vertigo hitting since the balcony is so high and steep.  Always cool to be in a new theatre, but I think I would have liked to have been closer to the ground.

In any case, a great night of theatre as a capstone to the excellent Theatre Alberta weekend!