IMAGINE a meeting between two icons of the last century, between two men that battled to lead black America at the height of the civil rights movement.

Jeff Stetson’s thought-provoking play, The Meeting, does exactly that, with the famously non-violent Martin Luther King coming face to face with the more militant Malcolm X.

Set in a hotel room in Harlem the day after Malcolm X’s house was firebombed in 1965, the two leaders spar with each other even almost coming to physical blows over their differences.

The play simultaneously exposes the gulf between their two ideologies and the brotherhood they share in their common aims.

It’s a fascinating subject but sometimes seemed to get lost amongst layered metaphors, which made the play lack pace and tension at times.

Directed by Chuck Mike, the one continuous scene that the play consists of had the potential to be too much to take in all at once.

But strong, believable performances from both Cornell S John as Malcolm X and Ray Shell as Martin Luther King held the play together. It was punctuated with surprising humour and had both poignancy and intensity.

Coupled with the exhibition on black history in the foyer and a debate afterwards, the whole experience of the play offered an intriguing insight into the politics of America in the last century.

The Meeting is performed at the Nuffield Theatre again today, at 7.30pm. Call the box office on 023 8067 1771.