Playwright Reacts to the White Casting of MLK in The Mountaintop

[Kind of Blue]

14. Not without the living author's consent.

"According to Hall, neither Oatman, who is the Creative Director of the African Community Theater, nor Kent State contacted her before making the decision, a choice she calls 'disrespectful.' Hall learned about the decision only after the play had closed.

In August, Oatman billed the decision to cast both a white and black actor as a 'true exploration of King’s wish that we all be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.' But needless to say, Hall remains unimpressed with the decision. In an interview with the Guardian, she said:

'I just really feel as though it echoes this pervasive erasure of the black body and the silencing of a black community – theatrically and also, literally, in the world.'

In response to Kent State’s decision, Hall has updated The Mountaintop’s licensing agreement to indicate that the role of Martin Luther King, Jr. must be played by a black actor. Any other casting decisions now require Hall’s approval."


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