Katori

At just 30 years old making her Broadway debut, playwright Katori Hall was not around to experience Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in real time, but she became immersed in his legacy growing up in Memphis where he spent the last days of his life.

Lonna Saunders: Interview: Playwright Katori Hall Reaches for King's Mountaintop Lonna Saunders 2011

At just 30 years old making her Broadway debut, playwright Katori Hall was not around to experience Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in real time, but she became immersed in his legacy growing up in Memphis where he spent the last days of his life.

Lonna Saunders: Interview: Playwright Katori Hall Reaches for King's Mountaintop Lonna Saunders 2011

And Katori's Martin Luther King goes from the all too human man who frets about whether his mustache makes him look old, a man who needs a woman's body next to his, never mind it isn't Coretta's.

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: The Mountaintop Rochelle Jewel Shapiro 2011

Paul Callomon (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia): How he and a team of volunteers transported the large collection of the late Japanese malacologist Hideo Katori from Japan to the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Archive 2009-03-01 AYDIN 2009

And Katori's Martin Luther King goes from the all too human man who frets about whether his mustache makes him look old, a man who needs a woman's body next to his, never mind it isn't Coretta's.

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: The Mountaintop Rochelle Jewel Shapiro 2011

In the mesmerizing verbal parry between Martin Luther King and Camae, Katori Hall brings him and the audience right up to the mountaintop.

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: The Mountaintop Rochelle Jewel Shapiro 2011

The playwright, Katori Hall, really did her job of creating perfect character arcs.

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: The Mountaintop Rochelle Jewel Shapiro 2011

First seen at the enterprising Theatre 503 in June 2009 before it transferred to Trafalgar Studios, Katori Hall's two-hander about the last night of Martin Luther King's life took many by surprise when it won the 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play.

This week's new theatre 2011

In the mesmerizing verbal parry between Martin Luther King and Camae, Katori Hall brings him and the audience right up to the mountaintop.

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: The Mountaintop Rochelle Jewel Shapiro 2011

The playwright, Katori Hall, really did her job of creating perfect character arcs.

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro: The Mountaintop Rochelle Jewel Shapiro 2011