The Mountaintop extends by one week to 22 Jan 2012

The American Premiere of Katori Hall's 2010 Olivier Award winning drama The Mountaintop, starring Samuel L Jackson and Angela Bassett, as extended its run by one week and will now play through to 22 Jan 2012.

The Mountaintop, directed by Kenny Leon, opening at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on 13 Oct 2011, following previews from 22 Sep 2011, and was originally scheduled to close on 15 Jan 2012.

The play opened to mixed reviews: Play of disappointments (newyorktheatreguide); The path to the peak may be uneven, but the view from there is worth it (New York Post); Trivializes an extraordinary man (Newsroom Jersey); This intimate yet epic play builds to its bracing conclusion (Hollywood Reporter); Emotionally powerful and theatrically stunning (Variety).

Taking place on April 3, 1968, The Mountaintop is a reimagining of events the night before the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., (Samuel L Jackson) as he retires to Room 306 in the now famous Lorraine Motel in Memphis, after delivering his legendary 'From the mountaintop' speech to a massive church congregation. When room-service is delivered by a young woman (Angela Bassett), whose identity we puzzle over, King is forced to confront his past, as well as his legacy to his people.

Jackson has a personal connection to the story of Martin Luther King. An active participant in the Civil Rights movement, Jackson was an usher at King's funeral in Atlanta.

American playwright Katori Hall's The Mountaintop was named Best Play at the 2010 Olivier Awards in London on 21 Mar 2010. Marking the first time a female African American playwright has received the honor in the Olivier Awards' 34-year history.

Katori Hall, an American actress and playwright, grew up in Memphis and is a child of the post-civil rights era. She is a recent graduate from the Juilliard School playwriting program and was the recent recipient of William Inge Theatre Festival's 2010 Otis Guernsey New Voices in the American Theatre Award. She is an alumnus of both Harvard and Columbia Universities.

The Mountaintop received its world premiere to critical acclaim in a three-week run at Theatre 503 in Jun 2009, and subsequently transferred to the West End's Trafalgar Studio 1. The production featured performances by David Harewood as 'Martin Luther King, Jr.,' and Lorraine Burroughs as the mysterious 'Camae,' under the direction of James Dacre.

The Mountaintop is being produced on Broadway by Jean Doumanian, Sonia Friedman Productions, and Ambassador Theatre Group.