Katori Hall’s play seeks to complete a monumental task. To take the legacy of Martin Luther King’s activism and, as director Rikki Henry describes, ‘pass on a mission’. 

Cold and desperate for a cigarette, we meet King (played beautifully by Caleb Roberts) on his final night on Earth. Effectively creating a sense of hopelessness, the raised stone plinth of the set, surrounded by earth and the empty chairs of previous speeches, alienates MLK from the crowds and lets him stand alone as a character. With sodden, pungent shoes and no toothbrush, he is further distanced from his public image with the arrival of a mysterious hotel maid who swears, smokes and tests the limits of his fidelity. 

The maid in question, Camae, creates some of the play’s high points, with a stand-out performance by Shannon Hayes, alongside an endlessly changing set. In particular, a mesmerising scene, which almost appears as slam poetry, charts the history of the civil rights movement and creates a basis for our own motivation to take up the mission of advocates who came before us. 

And while the work does achieve its purpose with a few truly poignant moments, it also suffers from pacing issues and leaves a little too much unsaid, especially for those who are new to this subject. Despite not reaching the dizzying heights of a life-changing experience, The Mountaintop is still a noteworthy reflection on one of history’s greatest leaders which proposes a meaningful purpose to activists of the future.

The Mountaintop is at Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Saturday 21 June; picture: Mihaela Bodlovic.