Last year the husband and I had the wonderful pleasure of watching the staged reading of The Mountaintop in the studio theatre at Curve Theatre, Leicester and it was like no staged reading we had seen before. It blew us both away and left us wanting more so when it was announced that Curve Theatre, along with their co-producer MAST Mayflower Studios and supported by PPL/PRS, were going to be involved with a full show with the same cast and director we bought tickets immediately and waited, in eager anticipation, until last night when we took our seats near the back of the auditorium…. and we were not disappointed.

The story takes place in room 306 of the Lorraine Motel – the room where Martin Luther King Jr spent his last night which is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum and the set, designed by Lulu Tam, is a nod of the head to that room. The clever designing of the set and the use of Adam King and Jack Baxter’s lighting and video design gives some lovely surprises – especially with the rain storm that is happening, for real, behind the motel room. No spoilers though.

The casting of Ray Strasser-King and Justina Kehinde as MLK jr and Camae is inspired and their desire to honour the story – both the reality and the fiction – is evident. They were inspiring in the inital staged reading but this time they took it to another level entirely.

Ray has clearly done his homework on the vocalisation of Preacher King and he has nailed it. I was a little overwhelmed in the opening few minutes as I struggled to get beyond the thick accent – especially in the “preach” moments near the beginning – but once my brain attuned it was just a joy to watch. The insecurity of the man that is MLK was beautifully portrayed and this gentle yet powerful portrayal brings that historical influence of Dr King straight to the modern day.

Justina is also amazing. Her portrayal of Camae is, at times, light and fun, at others deep and intense. Camae has two amazing monologues in this piece and wow!! They both slam you in the feels. The first (without giving any spoilers away), tells of her personal circumstances the night prior to the setting of this show and it is such a traumatic moment but still with joy infused. The second one – oh my word!!! Along with the montage of photos that happens behind her had me feeling moments of anger on their behalf to moments of healing. I managed to hold all those emotions in until the last few photos of that monologue – more on that later. Justina has a skill to flip your emotions from laughing at her almost childlike antics to the seriousness of the story her character brings and she compliments Ray’s performance perfectly. It makes me want to ‘pick up the baton’ and do more to bring kindness and understanding to our world.

We had the joy of chatting to both Ray and Justina, alongside director Nathan Powell, at a couple of Q&A sessions at Curve and they are so honest about why this show is so important – especially today. You can see the belief that they have in this piece and the realisation, based on their honest replies, that there is still such a long way to go before there is any kind of equality despite all the years that have passed since Dr King’s murder is truly saddening. All three are such kind people – you can tell that in their mannerisms, their well thought out answers and their willingness to spend time with their audiences (no matter how much we might talk their ears off!). The fact that they took the time out to acknowledge the young members of the CYCC tech team who had popped into the back of the studio to watch part of the tech was not lost on our son who was amongst that group of young people. He was absolutely buzzing that the cast had “for the first time ever” said hello to them as they sat quietly at the back watching.

Writer Katori Hall’s story is powerful and induces a whole plethora of feelings and, along with Nathan Powell’s sublime direction, leaves you exhausted after a rollercoaster ride of emotions. One moment I was smiling at the joy of the piece and the next I was angry about the fact that this story is still so relevant today given the awful events that happened in the Summer. With the montage of photos in Camae’s last monologue I struggled to hold back the tears because I wanted to see the photos, see the relevance to them in connection with that speech and I wanted to feel the power of that moment. I finally lost it when the photos of the community repairing the wall of the mosque in Southport came on. The fact that these kinds of events are happening in 2024 makes the relevance of work like this so important. The fact that people are profiled solely on the colour of their skin – irrespective of the person underneath – is heartbreaking and makes me so angry on their behalf. It also makes me feel helpless that the message from the likes of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and others of his ilk is still being lost amongst the almost savage tribalism that seems to be rapidly growing both here in the UK and overseas.

Inspired by this show and, especially by Camae’s final monologue and Dr King’s final challenge on stage last night I will pick up the baton and try to bring even more kindness to those around me, to raise my children to be the best people they can be and for us all to try and make a difference to those around us. I will try not to fear and I hope that I can carry that baton whilst passing it on to those around me in the hope that things change for the better.

It is rare I leave a theatre almost breathless from the powerful, thought invoking messages I have seen and that happened last night. I would give this more than five stars if I could.