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THE<br />
MOUNTAINTOP:<br />
MLK’S LAST<br />
NIGHT<br />
The Grand Theatre, in partnership with<br />
London Black History Month, presents an<br />
award-winning drama that creatively explores<br />
the night before the assassination of<br />
civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<br />
On the main stage now until February<br />
27, The Mountaintop is a powerful drama<br />
about Dr. King’s final hours on April 3,<br />
1968. The play opens at the Lorraine Motel<br />
just after Dr. King has delivered his famous<br />
‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’ speech. Exhausted<br />
and worn down, Dr. King retires to<br />
his room while a storm rages outside.<br />
Later that night, he encounters a beautiful<br />
hotel chambermaid with whom he has<br />
an intimate conversation that builds to a<br />
surprising reveal. Though no one can be<br />
sure of what actually happened on that<br />
FEATURE<br />
date, playwright Katori Hall’s script is a<br />
compelling re-imagining of Dr. King’s last<br />
night with historical facts woven through,<br />
revealing the human side of the hero -<br />
with all of his fears, desires, and hopes.<br />
“A singular and beautiful moment of<br />
self-awareness and prophecy, The Mountaintop<br />
investigates and brings to light the<br />
man behind the myth. The play reminds us<br />
of the strength and power of the human<br />
spirit, the strength and power of faith, and<br />
the strength and power of uniting people<br />
together to right injustices,” director Nigel<br />
Shawn Williams remarked.<br />
“We have an amazing cast and director<br />
for this show, and of course an incredible<br />
set. The story will take surprising twists<br />
and turns, but ultimately celebrates the<br />
man, the visionary leader, and his profound<br />
legacy,” Grand Theatre artistic director<br />
Susan Ferley added.<br />
Williams directs E. B. Smith in his Grand<br />
debut as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and<br />
Beryl Bain as hotel worker Camae.<br />
B<br />
lack History Month is celebrated<br />
at McIntosh Gallery at Western<br />
University with a pair of unique<br />
African-themed exhibitions.<br />
Worn, by Vancouver-based artist Karin<br />
Jones, explores the theme of African identity<br />
and Canadian history. Recently commissioned<br />
by and on view at the Royal<br />
Ontario Museum in Toronto, at first glance<br />
the installation appears to be an elegant<br />
black Victorian dress.<br />
Upon closer inspection, the ‘garment’<br />
is actually a mourning dress made of<br />
braided synthetic hair extensions (specifically<br />
for use in African hair-braiding techniques),<br />
surrounded by a bed of natural<br />
cotton bolls, some of which are altered<br />
to contain tufts of the artist’s hair. It examines<br />
issues of African identity, imperial<br />
rule, slavery and alienation.<br />
“The dress rises from a bed of cotton<br />
bolls and African hair bolls, a mythic figure<br />
born of the cross-cultural forces of<br />
colonialism, commerce and slavery. I wear<br />
my African-Canadian identity much as a<br />
Victorian woman would have worn this<br />
type of dress: proudly, but also uncomfortably,<br />
shaped but also constrained by<br />
it,” Jones wrote in her artist’s statement.<br />
Concurrently, an impressive collection<br />
of African art is on display next door to<br />
complement the Jones exhibition. The late<br />
Professor Emeritus John Kaufmann, along<br />
with his wife Suzanne, amassed over 200<br />
pieces of 19th and 20th century works,<br />
including tribal masks, ancestral figures,<br />
basketry, sculpture and textiles made by<br />
artists from over thirty ethnic groups including<br />
the Dan, Mossi, Asante, Luluwa<br />
and Dogon peoples of Africa. A selection<br />
of these fascinating pieces is on view; the<br />
exhibitions continue until March 12.<br />
An interest in African visual culture was<br />
thearts<br />
E.B. SMITH IS ONSTAGE AS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AT GRAND THEATRE<br />
A special benefit performance for the<br />
London Black History Coordinating Committee<br />
will take place February 23 at<br />
7:30pm, with a reception following the<br />
performance. Benefit tickets are $55 per<br />
person (call 519-963-2316 or 519-850-<br />
9997); for all other tickets (ranging from<br />
$29.95-$81.50), call the box office at 519-<br />
672-8800.<br />
- Amie Ronald-Morgan<br />
WORKS EXPLORE<br />
AFRICAN ART, IDENTITY<br />
AT MCINTOSH<br />
passed down from Dr. Suzanne Kaufmann’s<br />
family, who began collecting in the<br />
early part of the 20th century. Dr. John<br />
Kaufmann (1924 - 2013) was a neuropathologist<br />
in the Department of Pathology<br />
and Laboratory Medicine from the early<br />
KARIN JONES, WORN, AND THE JOHN AND SUZANNE KAUFMANN COLLECTION OF<br />
AFRICAN ART (DETAIL) ARE ON DISPLAY AT MCINTOSH GALLERY<br />
PHOTO CREDIT: MCINTOSH GALLERY<br />
1970s until his retirement in 1989. He was<br />
predeceased by his wife in 2010.<br />
A complementary installation of beadwork<br />
and jewellery from the Kaufmann<br />
Collection will be on display at Weldon<br />
Library.<br />
- Amie Ronald-Morgan<br />
24<br />
ESTABLISHED IN 1989 FEBRUARY 11 - MARCH 9 • 2016
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