Katori Hall
Encyclopedia
Katori Hall is an American playwright, journalist and actress from Memphis, Tennessee
.
Her play The Mountaintop
, about Martin Luther King's last night before his assassination, premiered in London in 2009 to great critical acclaim. After a sell-out run at Theatre 503
, the play transferred to the Trafalgar Studios
in the West End
. The production was directed by James Dacre
and featured British actors David Harewood
and Lorraine Burroughs. Harewood was nominated for Best Actor in the Evening Standard and Whatsonstage Awards and Burroughs for Best Actress in the Olivier Awards. The production was also nominated for Best New Play in the Olivier and Whatsonstage Awards and Most Promising Playwright in the Evening Standard Awards. Hall won the best new play award at the Laurence Olivier Awards in March 2010 for The Mountaintop.[1] The win made her the first black woman in history to win the Olivier Award for Best New Play.
The Independent called The Mountaintop
, 'breathtaking'. Theater critic Charles Spencer in the The Daily Telegraph gave the production five stars and hailed it a 'triumph'.
Other plays include Hoodoo Love, which was produced Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre
in New York City, Remembrance, Hurt Village, which won the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, WHADDABLOODCLOT!!!!, The Hope Well, and Pussy Valley.
Her awards include a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Lark Play Development Center
Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, two Lecompte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, Fellowship of Southern Writers
Bryan Family Award in Drama, NYFA Fellowship, and the Lorraine Hansberry
Playwriting Award.
Hall was shortlisted for the London Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award and received the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award from the William Inge Theatre Festival. She is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers
.
Hall has been published as a book reviewer, journalist, and essayist in publications such as The Boston Globe
, Essence
and Newsweek
. She has been a Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellow at the O’Neill.
Hall graduated from Columbia University
in 2003 with a major in African-American Studies and Creative Writing. She was awarded top departmental honors from the university’s Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS). In 2005, she graduated from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University
with a Master of Fine Arts
in Acting and graduated from the Juilliard School
’s Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting program n 2009.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
Her play The Mountaintop
The Mountaintop
The Mountaintop is a play by American playwright Katori Hall. It is a fictional depiction of the Reverend Martin Luther King's last night on earth set entirely in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel on the eve of his assassination on April 4, 1968.-Productions:...
, about Martin Luther King's last night before his assassination, premiered in London in 2009 to great critical acclaim. After a sell-out run at Theatre 503
Theatre 503
Theatre503 is located at 503 Battersea Park Road in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, above the Latchmere pub. It is a performing arts venue which specialises in new work.-History:...
, the play transferred to the Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. The production was directed by James Dacre
James Dacre
-Selected work:*As You Like It by William Shakespeare * World Premiere of The Mountaintop by Katori Hall , 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play, nominated for a further five Olivier, Whatsonstage and Evening Standard Awards*King James Bible *Judgement Day by Mike Poulton, after When We...
and featured British actors David Harewood
David Harewood
David Harewood is a British actor.-Biography:David Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby...
and Lorraine Burroughs. Harewood was nominated for Best Actor in the Evening Standard and Whatsonstage Awards and Burroughs for Best Actress in the Olivier Awards. The production was also nominated for Best New Play in the Olivier and Whatsonstage Awards and Most Promising Playwright in the Evening Standard Awards. Hall won the best new play award at the Laurence Olivier Awards in March 2010 for The Mountaintop.[1] The win made her the first black woman in history to win the Olivier Award for Best New Play.
The Independent called The Mountaintop
The Mountaintop
The Mountaintop is a play by American playwright Katori Hall. It is a fictional depiction of the Reverend Martin Luther King's last night on earth set entirely in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel on the eve of his assassination on April 4, 1968.-Productions:...
, 'breathtaking'. Theater critic Charles Spencer in the The Daily Telegraph gave the production five stars and hailed it a 'triumph'.
Other plays include Hoodoo Love, which was produced Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre
Cherry Lane Theatre
The Cherry Lane Theatre , located at 38 Commerce Street in the borough of Manhattan, was New York City's oldest, continuously running off-Broadway theater...
in New York City, Remembrance, Hurt Village, which won the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, WHADDABLOODCLOT!!!!, The Hope Well, and Pussy Valley.
Her awards include a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Lark Play Development Center
Lark Play Development Center
The Lark Play Development Center is a non-profit organization that seeks to help playwrights improve and produce their plays. Headquartered in Manhattan, New York they function in countries throughout the world.- History :...
Playwrights of New York (PONY) Fellowship, Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, two Lecompte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, Fellowship of Southern Writers
Fellowship of Southern Writers
The Fellowship of Southern Writers is a literary organization founded in 1987 in Chattanooga, Tennessee by 21 Southern writers and other literary luminaries...
Bryan Family Award in Drama, NYFA Fellowship, and the Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
Playwriting Award.
Hall was shortlisted for the London Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award and received the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award from the William Inge Theatre Festival. She is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers
Fellowship of Southern Writers
The Fellowship of Southern Writers is a literary organization founded in 1987 in Chattanooga, Tennessee by 21 Southern writers and other literary luminaries...
.
Hall has been published as a book reviewer, journalist, and essayist in publications such as The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, Essence
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
and Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. She has been a Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellow at the O’Neill.
Hall graduated from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 2003 with a major in African-American Studies and Creative Writing. She was awarded top departmental honors from the university’s Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS). In 2005, she graduated from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in Acting and graduated from the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
’s Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting program n 2009.