The Meeting (play)

The Meeting
Written byJeff Stetson
CharactersMartin Luther King Jr.
Malcolm X
Date premiered1987
Place premieredHarlem, New York City, New York
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, March 26, 1964 – the only (momentary) meeting the two ever had

The Meeting is a 1987 American play by Jeff Stetson about an imaginary meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in 1965 in a hotel in Harlem during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.[1][2] The play was later televised on American Playhouse in 1989.[3][4]

Reception

The Meeting won a Louis B. Mayer Award and eight 1987 NAACP Theatre Awards.[1] It has been performed throughout Europe, the United States and in Nairobi.[1]

Actual meeting

In reality, the two men only met once, while both were in Washington, D.C. to watch the Senate debates regarding the (eventual) passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[5] On March 26, 1964, they briefly spoke with each other as they walked through the United States Senate together for about a minute.[5]

The play was parodied by the sketch comedy show, Key and Peele, Peele playing King and Key playing Malcolm X.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Play Will Portray Meeting Of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X". Chicago Tribune. February 2, 1992.
  2. ^ Tommney, Jim (January 31, 2014). "The Meeting Imagines a Meeting of Length Between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X". Houston Press.
  3. ^ Mills, Nancy (April 8, 1989). "A 'Meeting' of Minds : Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X: What If . . . ?". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ Goodman, Walter (May 3, 1989). "Review/Television; An Imaginary Meeting of Dr. King and Malcolm X". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b Brown, DeNeen L. (2014-01-18). "Martin Luther King Jr. met Malcolm X just once. The photo still haunts us with what was lost". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  6. ^ "Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcolm X at the Theater - Key & Peele". 21 January 2020.


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