By Katori Hall Directed by Audrey Dwyer
By Katori Hall
Directed by Audrey Dwyer
“They hate so easily, and we love too much.” – King As a storm rages on April 3, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel. When a beautiful maid delivers coffee to the room, small talk veers into a surprising conversation that exposes the preacher’s vanity, vulnerability and uncompromising humanity. In this gripping reimagination of the night before King’s assassination, we witness the hope and struggle of a man who must confront his destiny and his legacy to the people. Generously sponsored by:
Digital programming sponsor:
Tickets: $20+GST The Mountaintop is a staged play captured for the screen. The performance is recorded so you may watch the show as many times as you like from Feb 26 to Mar 14. Questions about set-up and viewing? Visit our digital content FAQ page, follow this step-by-step guide or watch this 'How to view digital content' video.
Playwright
Olivier Award-winning and two-time Tony-nominated Memphis-native Katori Hall is the bookwriter and co-producer of the West End and Broadway hit, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. She’s also the executive producer and showrunner of P-Valley, the breakout Starz drama based on her play Pussy Valley. Katori’s latest piece, The Hot Wing King, premiered in Spring 2020 at the Signature Theatre, rounding out her three-play residency. She is best known for The Mountaintop, which won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2010 before opening on Broadway in October 2011 to critical acclaim. Katori’s other works include the award-winning Hurt Village, Hoodoo Love, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Our Lady of Kibeho and The Blood Quilt. She is also the director of the award-winning short, Arkabutla. Katori is an alumna of Columbia University, ART at Harvard University and Juilliard. She’s also a graduate of the Sundance Episodic Lab’s inaugural class, the Sundance Screenwriting Lab and Ryan Murphy’s Half Foundation Directing Program. She is a proud member of the Ron Brown Scholar Program and the Coca-Cola Scholar Program. She’s currently developing multiple projects across film, television and theatre.
Director
ROYAL MTC Director: Women of the Fur Trade. Consulting Director: Bang Bang (with Belfry). Actor: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (with Mirvish), Good People, Medea (with Mirvish), The Crucible. Dramaturg: Tiny Plays, Big Ideas (upcoming). OTHER THEATRE Director: Prairie Nurse (Lighthouse Theatre); Calpurnia (Nightwood Theatre/Sulong Theatre); The Apology (Rabiayshna Productions). TRAINING National Theatre School of Canada. ET CETERA Audrey is Royal MTC’s Associate Artistic Director and is a multi-disciplinary artist with over 20 years experience working as an actor, director, playwright, teacher, artistic director, facilitator and mentor. She won the Cayle Chernin Award for Theatre in 2015. She has been nominated for four Dora Awards and has won three. She has been nominated for the Pauline McGibbon Award for Direction twice. She was the Artistic Director of Cow Over Moon Children’s Theatre. She was the Urjo Kareda Artist in Residence and the Assistant Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre.
Set Designer
ROYAL MTC Recent and favourites: The Color Purple (with Citadel), The Cottage, John, A Doll’s House, The Humans, Di and Viv and Rose, Once (with Grand), Sarah Ballenden, Black Coffee, Billy Elliot the Musical, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, A Christmas Story, Harvey, August: Osage County, The Boys in the Photograph (with Mirvish), The Lonesome West, Patience, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (with NAC), M. Butterfly (with NAC). OTHER THEATRE Brian’s work has been featured at theatres across the country, including two seasons each at the Shaw and Stratford festivals. Selected recent credits include: Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (TPM); La Cantatrice chauve et La Leçon (Théâtre Cercle Molière); The Whipping Man (WJT); Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia! (Rainbow); The Wedding Party, New Magic Valley Fun Town, Prairie Nurse, Gracie, The Flats (PTE); A Little Night Music (Dry Cold). TRAINING Graduate of U of W and NTS. ET CETERA Recipient of Gemini, Jessie Richardson, Prix Rideau and Evie Awards.
Costume Designer
ROYAL MTC First engagement. OTHER THEATRE Set and Costume Design: Serving Elizabeth (WCT); A Million Billion Pieces, Risky Phil (YPT); Victory, 1837: The Farmers’ Revolt (Shaw); The Bridge (Neptune/2b Theatre); Choir Boy (Centaur); Iterate (Mile Zero Dance). Costume Design: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Brothers Size (Soulpepper); Fences (Grand). Set Design: School Girls (Obsidian Theatre); In The Abyss (Political Movement). FILM Shorts: 21 Black Futures (Obsidian/CBC); A Revolution of Love (THM/Awakenings); Body So Fluorescent (Madonnanera/lnside Out). TEACHING She has designed, mentored and taught at Ryerson University and is currently serving on the board of directors of the Associated Designers of Canada. ET CETERA Rachel received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her costume design on The Brothers Size (Soulpepper 2019) and a Merritt Award for her set design on The Bridge (2b/Neptune 2019).
Lighting & Video Designer
ROYAL MTC All is Bright (Lighting Director), Women of the Fur Trade, Fun Home, The Color Purple (with Citadel), A Doll’s House (Lighting & Video Designer), It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Vietgone (Lighting & Video Designer), Heisenberg, The Humans, Outside Mullingar, Kill Me Now (with NAC), Hand to God, Million Dollar Quartet, My Name is Asher Lev (with Segal), Things We Do For Love, Seminar (with Mirvish), The Woman in Black, Cabaret (2015), The Glass Menagerie (2014, 1989/90), Venus in Fur (Lighting & Video Designer), The Penelopiad, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, After Miss Julie, Macbeth (with English Suitcase Theatre Company), Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Beautiful Lake Winnipeg, A Walk in the Woods, Frankenstein: Playing with Fire. OTHER THEATRE Hugh has collaborated with choreographers, visual artists and dance and theatre companies worldwide. In Winnipeg, his work has been seen with Canada’s RWB, QDance, Gearshifting Performance Works, PTE, TPM and MTYP, to name a few. ET CETERA Hugh enjoys working beyond the constraints of traditional lighting design using various forms of interactive media, video and photography. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published worldwide. Hugh is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and L’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec www.pellucid.me.
Sound Designer
ROYAL MTC Fun Home, Kill Me Now (with NAC), The Hound of the Baskervilles 2016 (Tour). OTHER THEATRE Chris has had the pleasure of working with many local and international theatre groups. Credits include Routes 2016/17 Tour (MTYP); The Hound of the Baskervilles Mar. 2015, Little Thing Big Thing Sept. 2015 (PTE); EDEN 2013 (Sarasvàti); Bashir Lazhar Mar. 2013 (TPM); Angels in America 2012, Perestroika 2014 (WJT); Three Sisters 2011 (zone41). TRAINING Chris is a graduate of the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology. ET CETERA Chris has been involved in the theatre industry in Winnipeg for many years. Currently working as Royal MTC’s Technical Director at the John Hirsch Mainstage.
Dialect Coach
ROYAL MTC First engagement. OTHER THEATRE Victory (Capitol Classics). TRAINING/TEACHING University of California at Irvine; Knight-Thompson Speech Trainer Certification; Fitzmaurice Voice Training. ET CETERA Amani Dorn is a dialect coach originally from Austin, Texas currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia. She is professionally represented by Pamela Vanderway at Entertainment Linguistics. Amani coaches actors preparing accents for auditions, roles and their careers. She is beyond excited to join the team on this very relevant work. amanidorndialects.com
Fight Director
ROYAL MTC Fight Director (selected): Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical (with Arts Club/Citadel), Vietgone (with fu-GEN/Hope and Hell), Hand to God, Unnecessary Farce, Private Lives, Gone With the Wind, August: Osage County, Romeo and Juliet, The Seafarer. Actor: Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Top Girls. OTHER THEATRE Fight Director (selected): Macbeth (Bard on the Beach); Indigenous Playwrights New Works Workshop (PTC – Vancouver); Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow); The Flood Thereafter (CS); Don Giovanni (Manitoba Opera); Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew (SIR); Prairie Nurse (PTE). TEACHING U of Winnipeg, U of Manitoba, Trinity Western, Simon Fraser University, Kansas State University. ET CETERA Jacqueline was a founding member of the Canadian Comedy Award-nominated sketch group, Hot Thespian Action. She has adapted/directed several operas for site-specific performances for Manitoba Underground Opera, Little Opera Company, and Flipside Opera, and is currently developing a theatre-for-one show with Theatre Projects Manitoba.
Assistant Director
ROYAL MTC First engagement. OTHER THEATRE Directing: Stories Houses Tell (PTE); BELTFEST ’N CHILL (UNIT); EMBRACE (Nakai); Haircuts By Children, Children’s Choice Awards, Eat The Street, These Are The People In Your Neighbourhood (Mammalian); Assistant Directing: By Grand Central Station (PTE). Select Acting: Kismet, Things Have Changed and Kismet: one to one hundred (The Chop); Blank and San Diego (Rumble); Happy Place (PTE); Young Drunk Punk (YAC); Jitters (Belfry); Nanay: a testimonial Play (Urban Crawl); Wee Tube (Replacement); East of the Sun, West of the Moon (Caravan); The Shoes That Were Danced To Pieces (Boca); The Leisure Society (Ruby). FILM/TV Director: Mabuhay a musical journey (Bluewater Buffalo/UNIT); 1st AD: I Knew My Murderer (Frantic Films); 2nd AD: Gone (Buffalo Gal); Perfect Match (Farpoint). Acting: Christmas By Starlight, Two Turtle Doves (Hallmark); Let’s Meet Again, Forever Christmas (Lifetime); Percy; Reasonable Doubt; The Gesture; Burden of Truth (CBC/Netflix). TRAINING Director’s Process, Suzuki and Viewpoints (PTE); Improv (Second City); Studio 58 (Langara); Black Hole Theatre Program, School of Fine Arts (U of M). ET CETERA Hazel is the Artistic Director and Producer of U ’N I Together (UNIT) Productions, Dramaturg in Residence at MAP, Mentor for Creative Manitoba’s Youth Mentorship Program, Coach for Creative Manitoba’s MENTORLY Coaching Program.
Stage Manager
ROYAL MTC Stage Manager: The Color Purple (with Citadel), A Doll’s House, Part 2 (with Mirvish), Once (with Grand), Kill Me Now (with NAC), Black Coffee, My Name is Asher Lev (with Segal), Myth of the Ostrich, Late Company, Cabaret, Venus in Fur, The Melville Boys (tour), Wingfield on Ice (tour), Looking Back – West, Bad Dates (tour). Assistant Stage Manager: As You Like It (with Citadel), Billy Elliot the Musical, Jane Eyre, Gone With the Wind, Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, White Christmas, Pride and Prejudice, Fiddler on the Roof, Educating Rita (tour), Guys and Dolls (with TC/Citadel). Talent Coordinator: All is Bright. OTHER THEATRE Over 50 productions at theatres around Winnipeg and Canada, including Rainbow Stage, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Shakespeare in the Ruins, Manitoba Theatre for Young People and Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. TRAINING Graduate of Sheridan College and member of CAEA. ET CETERA Leslie owns and operates Updog Boutique, with the support and love of her husband, Sean and her dog, Murtaugh – updogboutique.com.
Assistant Stage Manager
ROYAL MTC Stage Manager: Vietgone (with fu-GEN/Hope and Hell), Hand to God. Assistant Stage Manager: The Color Purple (with Citadel), A Christmas Carol, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (with Citadel), Chimerica, Clever Little Lies, The Glass Menagerie, Other People’s Money. Apprentice Stage Manager: Mrs. Warren’s Profession, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, The Shunning, Brief Encounter, The Seafarer, Steel Magnolias. Props: Gone With the Wind. OTHER THEATRE Dragonfly, Mary’s Wedding (TPM); Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables (Rainbow); Ghost Light, New Magic Valley Fun Town, Fly Me to the Moon (PTE); Am I Not King? The Last Concert of Richard II (zone41); Hamlet, Timon of Athens (SIR); A Year with Frog and Toad (MTYP). TRAINING B.A. (Hons) in Theatre Production and Stage Management at the University of Winnipeg. ET CETERA Enjoy the show!
Video Production
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Camae
ROYAL MTC Assistant Director: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Actor: Sense and Sensibility, Di and Viv and Rose, A Christmas Carol, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (with Citadel), Mrs. Warren’s Profession. OTHER THEATRE Director: Subjection of Kezia, Poof (Shaw); New Beginnings (Sarasvàti); The Game (Sarasvàti FemFest); The Power of Harriet T (MTYP). Assistant Director: Hamlet (Stratford Festival 2020); Ladykillers, Getting Married (Shaw); Timon of Athens (Bard on the Beach); The Jungle Book (MTYP). Actor: Intimate Apparel, House at Pooh Corner, 1837: The Farmers’ Revolt, Dracula, Richard III, The Power of Harriet T, Eating Pomegranates Naked, Tough Case, Eternal Hydra, Dirty Butterfly, On the Rocks, The Admirable Crichton, An Ideal Husband, The Doctor’s Dilemma. FILM/TV Actor: Burden of Truth, Starlight Christmas, 12 Dates of Christmas, The Secret Ingredient, Tales From The Hood 3, A Dog’s Journey, Under the Autumn Moon, A Christmas In Tennesee, Max & Shred, The Christmas Heart, Wrong Turn 4, Heater. TRAINING/TEACHING M.F.A. Acting – York University, National Theatre School, B.A.H. Theatre – University of Winnipeg, Ecole Philippe Gaulier-Clown. Instructor: 1st year Theatre Performance – University of Winnipeg, York University.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
ROYAL MTC It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Shakespeare in Love (with Citadel), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Romeo and Juliet, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (with TC). OTHER THEATRE The Tempest (Citadel); Deserter, Remember the Night (Moving Target); Hedda Noir (Theatre NorthWest); The Whipping Man (WJT); Romeo and Juliet (SIR); Dutchman (PlayOn Theatre); Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Black Hole Theatre Company). TRAINING Black Hole Theatre Company; Banff Centre for The Arts. ET CETERA “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It almost feels like we’re coming back to live theatre. And it’s good to be back.
It’s an unbridled pleasure to see local actors Strachan and Richards authoritatively hold our attention...