Abstract
In 1964, a white man walks into a public restroom in a Washington, DC park looking for sex. The next man who enters is a black man. In what seems at first to be a simple encounter, The Seat Next to the King explores the lives of two men from the pages of history who literally sat next to the most powerful men in America--Bayard Rustin, a friend to Martin Luther King Jr. who organized the March on Washington, and Walter Jenkins, top aide and friend to President Lyndon Johnson. An exploration of sexuality, race, and masculinity, The Seat Next to the King imagines a meeting between two men, burdened by their prejudices and inner conflicts, as they attempt to find a connection.