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"The Mountaintop" plumps the most human qualities of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A mix of history and fantasy forms the plot of a play about the last night of Dr. Martin Luther King's life. That play comes to the stage of Theatre Tallahassee starting this week.

It's the night of April third, 1968 and King's assassination is just hours away. The scene is the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. The play is "The Mountaintop," written by Katori Hall and Dee Selmore is the director of the Tallahassee production.

"What was he doing the night I wonder what was he doing the night before? What was his life like? But I love what Katori did with this play and she made him very accessible and human."

As a storm rages outside, a motel housekeeper named "Camae" comes to King's room. Ryan Toussaint's job in that role is to keep the great civil rights leader grounded.

"We like to place people on pedestals and we see other people as divine. But when it comes down to it, we're all human inside."

"The Mountaintop" opens Thursday evening at Theatre Tallahassee and runs through March 15th.

The Mountaintop

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Tom Flanigan has been with WFSU News since 2006, focusing on covering local personalities, issues, and organizations. He began his broadcast career more than 30 years before that and covered news for several radio stations in Florida, Texas, and his home state of Maryland.

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