Beacon - Michael Montasterial always knew Barrack Obama shared common ground with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, no time did he feel that bond more strongly than this past summer when Obama, like, Dr. King, had several veiled threats made on his life.
The theater owner of the Kingston-based Passing of the Torch Through the Arts, veteran actor and now recent playwright Montasterial was quickly moved to action. The first place he went was to his computer, drafting the one act historical drama, "King and Kennedy." Monday night, at the Muddy Cup in Beacon, his results were available to the public, free of charge. The event could not have been staged at a more fitting time, the 80th birthday of the civil rights icon, Dr. King. It could not have attempted to answer a more pressing question either: the Martyr Question.
"It’s a play that explores the issues faced by anyone who has a calling in the face of opposition," explained Montasterial, who portrayed Dr. King along with several other characters in the play he wrote last summer. "Will they do the right thing?"
Dealing with the one time meeting between incumbent president John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the play also looks at the question of whether all Americans are truly free, the March on Washington, Luther king Jr’s famous "I Have a Dream" speech, verbal battles between JFK and his brother Bobby on how to deal with Dr. King, and finally his assassination outside of a Memphis hotel. Brett Owen, who has 16 years of acting experience to his credit, joins the cast as United States Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, while Soyal Smalls portrays the dedicated wife, Coretta King. Creative directorial touches, including poster visuals of each character and computer-generated musical scores by the Beatles and Bob Dylan, are provided by Elizabeth Fraser Barrows.
We hear the conviction of JFK in his words to MLK, "The measure of a man is in his ability to stand up to his fears," utters Owen as JFK. "History chooses you."
Smalls, as Corretta King, allows us to feel the painful struggle she endured as her husband sat in a jail cell. At one point in the play, she pleads to JFK, "My husband does not have time for due process; I need mercy," affirmed Smalls, a SUNY New Paltz senior theater major. "Negroes across the country are watching and waiting to see what you are going to do."
It’s that realistic, emotional element that Montasterial strives for with each of his works.
"I want my audiences to live and feel the productions, not for them to just be words on paper, but things that really come to life," explained Montasterial, who has been involved with the theater for the past 25 years. "We are a diverse theater company that hopes to bring relevant material that jumps off of the page to viewers."
As for Monday’s production, the timing could not have been more appropriate. Not only was "King and Kennedy" staged on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday, but on the eve of Obama’s presidential inauguration.The production invariably reminds us all just how far we have come, all the while making us realize how far we still have to go.
"I’ve shown this play a few times, each one being very successful," said Montasterial. "It raises a lot of questions that help keep these issues on civil rights and equality going, by allowing audience members to experience them and see the people involved from a human angle, not just a bland, boring one on a page in a book."
