A dingy motel bedroom with a storm raging outside. A man appears out of the rain. But this is no ordinary man – this is Martin Luther King who has just given his famous ‘I’ve been to the Mountaintop,‘ speech and is preparing for his next one. It is April 3 1968 and we are in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where King is ordering room service on the telephone.
Enter a maid with coffee and we are about to take an imaginary glimpse on what might have happened on that last fateful night before the assassination. Camae is a larger than life, flirtatious, attractive woman with an everlasting supply of Pall Mall cigarettes which happen to be Martin Luther King’s favourite brand. They exchange political views – she very much in favour of direct action and Malcolm X compared to King’s more peaceful approach. It is an effective device to remind us about the civil rights movement of the time and all its factions. There is a lot of sexual chemistry between the two and it would be easy to imagine them tumbling into bed but the play is cleverer than that and Camae turns out to bring much more than the coffee! The play culminates in a wonderful visual feast of the future that King will never see, highlighting many important black figures including Barak Obama.
This is a touring revival of the Young Vic production first performed two years ago where it won best new play in the Olivier awards. It features Gbolahan Obisesan who created the part of Martin Luther King and Rochelle Rose as Camae. Gbolahan was also the writer of the play The Fishermen, recently seen at The North Wall. Whilst he looks remarkably like the character he plays, I felt his portrayal was slightly underplayed. However, this may be because he is playing against the marvellous Rochelle Rose who dominates the stage as Camae. The play was written by Katori Hall and I can’t help thinking that as a female writer, she has given the best lines in this play to her female character. After all, Martin Luther King had the best lines in real life.
★★★★☆ Karin André at The North Wall, Oxford on 17th October 2018
