Pick Up the Baton and Pass it to On
The Mountaintop
Written by Katori Hall
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Front Porch Arts Collective at Suffolk University Modern Theater
9/19/2025 – 10/12/2025
Fall theater kicked off with a bang this week; I saw four quality productions in four days. Yet The Mountaintop stands above the others, and sets a high bar what the rest of the season will offer.
On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. (Dominic Carter) arrives at Room 306 at the Lorraine Hotel, tired and hoarse, after delivering his, “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech on behalf of Memphis’ striking sanitation workers. He requests coffee from room service, which is delivered pronto by a very attractive maid (Kiera Prusmack). Flirtation ensues, sexual tension is high, and I think. Wow, this play is not sugarcoating MLK one bit.
About a half hour in, when MLK has loosened his tie, and it seems other accessories will soon follow, the ‘maids’ identity and purpose take a sharp turn that is both surprising yet believable, only to shift yet again into something fantastic which I will not spoil by revealing. Suffice to say that each transformation illustrates the satisfaction of a great play, beautifully executed.
There are so many challenges in making a play about a man like MLK. How to balance the myth and the man? How to create a character that meets our conceptions while adding new insight? How to be inspiring without being preachy? The Mountaintop navigates these challenges perfectly. By leading with his faults, when we finally do hear direct quotes from the man, they are tempered by his humanity. Sometimes his sentiments are voiced by the maid, which humanizes them in other ways. And sometimes we get MLK channeled through the playwright. My favorite line in the play, when the maid is egging MLK on about what in the world Black and white and rich and poor people can possibly have in common, he responds in exasperation, “What do we have in common? We are all scared.” I do not know whether MLK ever uttered those words, but they sure ring true.
Even as The Mountaintop is beautifully written, Front Porch’s production is superb. Kiera Prusmack is terrific, as a maid and in her other two identities. Dominic Carter is incredible. I’ve enjoyed Dom in many local productions, but never seen him so strong. He delivers an MLK for the ages. As the play approaches the inevitable, and MLK comes to accept the premonition of his death the following day, the modest motel room explodes in proportion and animation as director Parent takes us on a fantastic journey from 1968 to the present.
Challenging us, inspiring us: to carry the baton, and pass it on.
