Collaboration Brings 'The Mountaintop' by Katori Hall to Stage

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The University of Arkansas Department of Theatre partners with the African and African American Studies Program to present Katori Hall's award winning play, The Mountaintop, as part of their 2014-15 Studio Series.

With just two characters, a fictional hotel maid and a real-life civil rights legend, the play imagines what may have happened on the night before Martin Luther King's assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The Mountaintop won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. The American premiere was a Broadway production starring Oscar nominees Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett.

Clinnesha Sibley, head of playwriting and undergraduate advisor in the Department of Theatre and affiliated faculty member with African and African American Studies, is directing the production. Sibley is no stranger to the subject of King. Her own anthology, King Me: Three One-Act Plays Inspired By the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was published in 2013.

Performances of The Mountaintop are at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30 and 31 and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Feb 1. All performances are in Kimpel Hall 404. Ticket prices are $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and faculty/staff; and $5 for students. No free student tickets are available for the Studio Series. Due to high demand and limited seating, it is strongly recommended that patrons make reservations in advance.

The African and African American Studies program (AAST) at the University of Arkansas has been an interdisciplinary program since 1961. Its mission is to expand on the core disciplines of a traditional liberal arts education. The program explores the legacy of the African diaspora and African-descended people's global experiences with a focus on Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean. AAST strives to advance social consciousness, inject principles of reason and equality into international debates, and support the highest level of academic evidence in the classroom and beyond. Through the study of history and culture of the African diaspora, the program examines the important role that race has played in the creation of the world in which our students live. For more information, visit their website at http://aast.uark.edu.

The University of Arkansas Department of Theatre has been providing exciting and affordable live theatre for more than 60 years. They combine a first-rate theatrical education full of hands-on experience with a wide selection of titles to challenge their students and delight the community. The Theatre Department produces eight to 10 shows each year: four large-scale productions at the University Theatre and four to six smaller shows in the Studio Series. Shows range from new works to classic favorites, from period pieces and Shakespeare plays to Broadway musicals. For more information, visit their website at http://theatre.uark.edu/