October 11-November 5, 2023

The Mountaintop

HISTORICAL REIMAGINING

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By Katori Hall
Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
October 11 – November 5, 2023

The night before his untimely death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. returns to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after delivering a speech to local sanitation workers. While waiting for room service, he is visited by a mysterious and beautiful maid, Camae, with whom he begins a humorous and flirtatious conversation that progresses into a soul-searching discussion about their mutual hopes and fears. When Camae reveals her true identity, Dr. King must reflect on his legacy and the challenges facing the civil rights movement. “Audacious [and] inventive” (Associated Press), the Olivier Award-winning play offers an intimate and empathetic portrait of one of history’s most consequential figures.

"Do not miss this...an amazing production...the audience was rapt."

-Broadway World

"Mandatory viewing...both actors are brilliant"

-DC Theater Arts

"Ethereal [and] absorbing"

-The Washington Post

Cast

Ro Boddie

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) returns to Round House Theatre, where he previously appeared in August Wilson’s Radio Golf, The Tempest, A Boy and His Soul, and "Master Harold” ...and the Boys. Select DC credits include Pipeline, Three Sisters, and No Sisters at Studio Theatre; Off-Broadway credits include Socrates at the Public Theater and Seize the King at Classical Theatre of Harlem. Select regional credits include Windfall at Bay Street Theater; A Play is a Poem at Mark Taper Forum; Blueprints to Freedom at La Jolla Playhouse; The Mountaintop at Cleveland Playhouse; and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Baltimore Center Stage. Television credits include Godfather of Harlem, Run the World, The Good Wife, Elementary, and Person of Interest. Ro is an alum of University of the North Carolina School of the Arts and recipient of the 2016 Actor of the Year Craig Noel Award.

Renea S. Brown

Renea S. Brown (Camae) is excited to return to Round House Theatre! Previous Round House credits include “Dede” in Nollywood Dreams and Assistant Director on The Tempest. DC credits include Our Verse in Time to Come and A Midsummer Nights Dream at Folger Shakespeare Theatre; Change Agent at Arena Stage; The Tempest and Macbeth at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Love Factually at the Kennedy Center; Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth at Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre; Macbeth and Cymbeline at Theatre Prometheus. Regional Credits include The Wolves at McCarter Theatre; Othello, Sense and Sensibility, Twelfth Night at Island Shakespeare Festival (first Black woman to perform), Much Ado About Nothing and A King and No King at American Shakespeare Center. MFA: Academy of Classical Acting. Instagram/TikTok: @Therealdarklady

KenYatta Rogers

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Understudy

KenYatta Rogers (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Understudy) is thrilled to return to Round House Theatre after performing in The Tempest, Gem of the Ocean, Father Comes Home from the Wars, Two Trains Running, Glengarry Glen Ross, Amadeus, A Wrinkle in Time, Eurydice, and A Lesson Before Dying. Regional credits include Tiny Beautiful Things and Our Town at Baltimore Center Stage; Spunk at Signature Theatre; King Hedley II and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Arena Stage; Topdog/Underdog and A Raisin in the Sun at Everyman Theatre; Fever/Dream at Woolly Mammoth; Fences, Death of a Salesman, and Jitney at Ford’s Theatre; Colossal at Olney Theatre Center; Comedy of Errors at Folger Theatre; The Piano Lesson at Trustus Theatre; Coriolanus at Shakespeare & Company; As You Like Itand Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at ACTCo. KenYatta is a faculty member in the University of Maryland’s Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Ahdis Beruk

Camae Understudy

Ahdis Beruk (Camae Understudy) is overjoyed to be a part of The Mountaintop cast at Round House Theatre. Ahdis is a recent graduate of Howard University, where she obtained a BFA in Theatre Arts with a Concentration in Acting and a Minor in Playwriting. Previous credits include “Harriet Jacobs, PT Barnum, and Calvin" in the Helen Hayes Awards Recommended show, The Storehouse by Joanna Castle Miller, presented by Perisphere Theater at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre; and Howard University's Fall 2022 Mainstage Production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars as "Louise." Ahdisis a member of The Dramatists Guild of America and displays a dedication to uplifting stories across the Black diaspora.

Creative Team

MEDIA

Production Photos

<p>Renea S. Brown (Camae) and Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) in THE MOUNTAINTOP. Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</p> — Renea S. Brown (Camae) and Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) in THE MOUNTAINTOP. Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

Production Photos

<p>Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Renea S. Brown (Camae) in THE MOUNTAINTOP. Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</p> — Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Renea S. Brown (Camae) in THE MOUNTAINTOP. Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

Production Photos

<p>Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) in THE MOUNTAINTOP. Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.</p> — Ro Boddie (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) in THE MOUNTAINTOP. Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.

Production Photos

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