The Mountaintop

King is often considered larger than life in American history for his work as a civil rights leader, but Katori Hall deliberately explores the humanity behind the icon in The Mountaintop. The play imagines the night before his assassination, treating him as a person with flaws in the face of fear: He smokes, curses, and cheats on his wife Coretta Scott King (Corrie). King also doubts whether or not his nonviolent activism is accomplishing anything. Despite this doubt, he is arrogant, so much so that he argues with God herself until she ends their call. As a frequent target of racism, he knows he must fight to survive—which is reflected in his paranoia over his hotel room’s privacy and his later attempt to kick out Camae when she mentions his childhood name (Michael). King looks down on Camae, though he finds her attractive and skilled in oration. When he discovers she is an angel sent by God, she, in turn, is revealed as a reflection of his personal preferences—sexual or otherwise. For all of his flaws, the play treats him and his fear of death with empathy: King ultimately wishes to live to continue his work as an activist. Like any human, his death is out of his control, but his empathy allows him the privilege to glimpse a promising future.