Amman – The U.S. Embassy in Jordan proudly presents “The Meeting” a play that highlights the role of non-violence in achieving social change. The play takes the audience through an imaginary encounter at a Harlem hotel between two of the preeminent U.S. Civil Rights leaders: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. While here actors John Jelks and Russell Jones will perform and conduct workshops in Ma’an, Aqaba, Tafileh, and Zarqa.
A public performance of “The Meeting” will also be held in Amman on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. at Terra Sancta Theater in Jebel Webdeh.
In reality, Martin Luther King, Jr. met Malcom X only once, for one minute, at a press conference at the U. S. Senate on March 28, 1964. In his play, playwright Jeff Stetson takes the audience through what a dialogue between the two might have been like had they met for longer. Stetson permits each protagonist to voice with equanimity and occasional passionate his views and has sought to keep the balance even.
“The Meeting” received eight 1987 National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP) Theatre Awards. It has been performed throughout the United States and Europe and was featured on American Public Television.