‘The Mountaintop,’ Play About Martin Luther King Jr., Planned for Broadway

“The Mountaintop,” a new two-character play that imagines a surprising turn of events for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the night before his assassination, is aiming for Broadway in the fall, the producers Jean Doumanian and Sonia Friedman announced Wednesday.

The play, by Katori Hall, received a critically praised production in London last summer, and the producers said in a statement that they were eager to capitalize on its success by moving swiftly ahead with a Broadway production.

They said they were in negotiations with Kenny Leon to direct; Mr. Leon is directing the forthcoming revival of August Wilson’s “Fences” on Broadway....