The four characters are 22-year-old, newly crowned world boxing champion Cassius Clay as he transforms into Muhammad Ali, iconic Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, influential singer-songwriter and record producer Sam Cooke, and star NFL running back Jim Brown.
The men, friends in real life, celebrate Clay's surprise title win over Sonny Liston at the Hampton House in Miami, watched over by Nation of Islam security.
Any playwright can stick celebrity facsimiles together in a room; it takes real talent not only to render those portraits believable but also to invest the encounter with dramatic weight".
Although this well-appointed dramedy about what might have gone down in the Hampton House hotel the night that Cassius Clay became world heavyweight champion slightly overdoes the 20/20 hindsight, that doesn’t stop it from grabbing our imaginations".
[18] Boxing commentators expressed admiration for the credible language of the play, pointing out in regard to Clay/Ali that the production "succeeds in portraying a thoroughly believable Ali.
[21] Sope Dirisu, who played Cassius Clay, said "people often sugar-coat Ali's life and find it convenient to forget the struggles of the time he lived through".
"[22] François Battiste, the only American actor in the European premiere, who played Malcolm X, said, "you don't have the ability to tell these stories unless you are actively pursuing the new writers.
"[22] Arinze Kene, whose portrayal effectively included singing Sam Cooke songs, commented on increasing diversity, "the fact that the situation is getting better shows not how great things are now, but only that they used to be even worse.