'The Mountaintop' Rises at The Modern
Front Porch Arts Collective returns to Suffolk's Modern Theatre this month with their production of The Mountaintop — a gripping reimagination of events the night before the assassination of the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The play, written by Katori Hall and directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent, takes place on April 3, 1968, when, after delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel while a storm rages outside. When a mysterious stranger arrives with some surprising news, King is forced to confront his destiny and his legacy.
Front Porch has firmly established themselves as “a Black theatre company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theatre.” Suffolk has been honored to have included both producing artistic director Maurice Emmanuel Parent and associate artistic director Pascale Florestal as prior visiting artists. The company’s work has previously graced the Modern stage in productions such as Chicken & Biscuits, Holiday Feast, Exception to the Rule (directed by Donovan Holt), and Midsummer; Kinda? —an adaptation both crafted and directed by Florestal during her time as a Suffolk visiting guest artist and professor of practice.
Suffolk partnerships translate to real outcomes
The Mountaintop production team includes two Suffolk alumni: stage manager Lauren Burke and casting and operations apprentice and assistant director Kayla Sessoms. Sessoms began working with Front Porch last year as a general apprentice. She says she gained the confidence to explore directing during her student experience working with University partner Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC). “All the building blocks, for sure, are connected to Suffolk,” says Sessoms.
She was able to make inroads and connections with the entire Front Porch team while still in school, working with Parent in Professor Marilyn Plotkin’s Broadway Musicals course and with Florestal, who she now considers a mentor, on Midsummer; Kinda?
Though Sessoms has her sights set on returning to London where she previously spent a semester studying at Regents University, she is excited to be back working professionally on the Suffolk campus.
“The Modern, to me, will always feel like home. I think the Modern is where I feel the most comfortable, being creative."
Boston legacy and historical significance
The proximity of this production to the Boston Common is of particular significance in an era of historic milestones. This past April marked 60 years since MLK spoke at the Common pavilion; a location just steps away from both the Modern and The Embrace. King also participated in the Ford Hall Forum, which now resides at Suffolk University.
The Mountaintop is set three years after King’s Boston visit and shows audiences a snapshot into his imagined life as he comes face to face with his own mortality. Hall’s script presents a “warts and all” glimpse into King’s legendary persona and exposes his human fallibility. What ultimately emerges from the play is a call to action—for the next person to carry the baton further promoting the message of the Civil Rights Movement and MLK’s belief in the pursuit of equality and nonviolent action. For Sessoms, the portrayal of King is particularly intriguing.
“When you think about history, especially Black history and the well-known, notable people we don’t see [them] as fully fleshed out,” she says. “We see them as their ideas, or as their morals. I think that in 2025, we need to start seeing people as people first and foremost. I think a lot of times we lose the humanity in figureheads.”
Demystifying the icon and revealing the man
Sessoms hopes that the play will allow audiences to come away with a different perspective on King and see him as a real person and not just a legend.
“If he’s just a man, and he can do all these amazing [things], how much more can we all do intentionally? So, it’s really a call to action,” says Sessoms. “Now it is our time to pick up the baton and run our leg of the race. It’s now in our hands.”
The Mountaintop by Katori Hall
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Running September 19 - October 12
Modern Theatre
525 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
Tickets $15-$50