Malcolm X spars with Martin Luther King Jr. in absorbing play 'The Meeting'

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. met only once, briefly in 1964, during Senate debate on a civil rights bill. Within a year Malcolm was assassinated, depriving the world of any further engagement between the two Black leaders.

Jeff Stetson's one-act play "The Meeting" (1987) imagines what a frank, private exchange of views between Malcolm and Martin might have been like. As part of the MKE Black Theatre Festival, Bronzeville Arts Ensemble is staging a short run of Stetson's absorbing play at The Table, 5305 W. Capitol Drive. Of course this production will appeal to audience members who remember the '60s civil rights movement, but it also serves as a good introduction to the complexities of Malcolm X for younger people.

It's directed by Denzel Taylor.

UWM students Ethan Hightire (Malcolm X) and Nahjee Robinson (MLK) are young for the roles they play, but invest their performances with grace and gravitas. Hightire is pure fire as Malcolm, a rhetorician who is determined to win but one who also loves the fight.

Yes, Stetson's play is an exploration of the conflict between King's non-violent resistance and Malcolm's "by any means necessary," but it's no carefully structured high school debate. In his hotel room, with his hypervigilant bodyguard Rashad (Brian Maxwell) nearby, Malcolm has the home field advantage. King has accepted his invitation.

It's early 1965, right after Malcolm's home was bombed. Enraged and fearful for his family, he's on the attack from the moment King arrives, tearing apart the non-violent concept. Several speeches are tour-de-force moments with the intensity of John Coltrane solos; Hightire holds nothing back.

While King stands his ground on his beliefs, he does not fight back with his own flights of oratory. But Stetson's writing and Robinson's performance remind us that King was a minister. His response to Malcolm could be called pastoral. He cares for his host, who is almost fatally resigned to his own imminent death and furiously impatient with lack of change.

This production incorporates some moments of archival audio from the era. The Table is a converted church building. In the echo-ish environment, I could hear the familiar cadence and accents of Malcolm and MLK in that audio, but frequently had trouble making out the words.

Do the two giants find rapport in Stetson's play? Malcolm's beautiful final words will provide you with that answer.

If you go

Performances of "The Meeting" continue through Aug. 19 at The Table, 5305 W. Capitol Drive, as part of MKE Black Theatre Festival. This production is a collaboration with Bronzeville Arts Ensemble. For tickets and more information, visit blackartsmke.org.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Malcolm X, MLK debate the way forward in absorbing play 'The Meeting'