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{{Infobox play
{{Infobox play
| name=King James
| name=King James
| image=
| image=File:KingJamesPlay poster.jpeg
| caption=
| caption=King James poster
| writer=[[Rajiv Joseph]]
| writer=[[Rajiv Joseph]]
| director=[[Kenny Leon]]
| director=[[Kenny Leon]]
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| web=
| web=
}}
}}
'''''King James''''' is a play written by [[Rajiv Joseph]], which premiered at the [[Steppenwolf Theatre Company|Steppenwolf Theatre]] in March 2022 under the direction of [[Kenny Leon]]. The play's action is launched when two characters meet: Matt ([[Chris Perfetti]]), a Cleveland bartender with Cavaliers tickets he needs to sell, and Shawn ([[Glenn Davis (American actor)|Glenn Davis]]), a writer who has recently published a short story and wants to buy tickets for the Cavs 2003-2004 season -- the first season with [[LeBron James]] playing.
'''''King James''''' is a play written by [[Rajiv Joseph]], which premiered in March 2022 at the [[Steppenwolf Theatre Company|Steppenwolf Theatre]] in Chicago, under the direction of [[Kenny Leon]]. The play's action is launched when two characters meet: Matt ([[Chris Perfetti]]), a Cleveland bartender with Cavaliers tickets he needs to sell, and Shawn ([[Glenn Davis (American actor)|Glenn Davis]]), a writer who has recently published a short story and wants to buy tickets for the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]] 2003–2004 season – the first season with [[LeBron James]] playing.


==Development==
==Development==
Rajiv Joseph began to write the play in 2017, motivated to "preserve some of the experience of following and cheering" for LeBron James.<ref name="2022-03-04-CleveCOM" /> "Rajiv's first draft had a lot of basketball in it,” according to Glenn Davis, who is a long-term friend of Davis, but “as each new draft came in, the specifics about basketball began to disappear because Rajiv wanted to make sure this play was about friendship.”<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes" />
Rajiv Joseph began to write the play in 2017, motivated to "preserve some of the experience of following and cheering" for LeBron James.<ref name="2022-03-04-CleveCOM" /> "Rajiv's first draft had a lot of basketball in it," according to Glenn Davis, who is a long-term friend of Joseph, but "as each new draft came in, the specifics about basketball began to disappear because Rajiv wanted to make sure this play was about friendship."<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes" />


The play, a co-production of the Steppenwolf and the [[Center Theatre Group]] in Los Angeles was originally scheduled for production during their 2019-2020 seasons. The premiere was delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, until March 13, 2022 in Chicago and June 1, 2022 in Los Angeles.<ref name="2022-03-09" /> Rajiv Joseph, Glenn Davis and Kenny Leon, who is directing at Steppenwolf for the first time, are all longtime basketball aficionados, but not so much for Chris Perfetti. This added depth to the play's development at Steppenwolf as being both about and not about basketball -- about how sports helps to bring people together.<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes" /><ref name="2022-03-04-CleveCOM" /> As Rajiv Joseph said to Sarah Bahr of the New York Times: "Sometimes a love of the game is the only way people who have difficulty expressing their feelings are able to articulate them."<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes" />
The play, a co-production of the Steppenwolf and the [[Center Theatre Group]] in Los Angeles was originally scheduled for production during their 2019–2020 seasons. The premiere was delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, until March 13, 2022 in Chicago and June 1, 2022 in Los Angeles.<ref name="2022-03-09" /><ref name="2022-06-09-LATimes" /> Rajiv Joseph, Glenn Davis, and Kenny Leon, who was directing at Steppenwolf for the first time, were all longtime basketball fans, unlike Chris Perfetti.<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes" /><ref name="2022-03-04-CleveCOM" /> Joseph said to Sarah Bahr of ''The New York Times'': "Sometimes a love of the game is the only way people who have difficulty expressing their feelings are able to articulate them."<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes" />


==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
The play's drama derives from the ups and downs of Matt's and Shawn's friendship, the ebbs and flows of their two careers, and the comings and goings of LeBron James. The play's four scenes take place at the time of Matt's and Shawn's initial meeting during the 2003-2004 season, six and one half years later at the time of [[The Decision (TV program)|"''The Decision''"]], when James infamously announced he was abandoning Cleveland for Miami, in 2014, when James returned to Cleveland, and in 2016, the [[LeBron James#2014–2016: Ending Cleveland's championship drought|end of Cleveland's championship drought]].
The play's drama derives from the ups and downs of Matt and Shawn's friendship, their careers, LeBron James's career. The play's four scenes take place at the time of Matt's and Shawn's initial meeting during the 2003–2004 Cavaliers season; six and a half years later at the time of [[The Decision (TV program)|''The Decision'']], when James announced he was leaving Cleveland for the [[Miami Heat]]; in 2014, when James returned to Cleveland; and in 2016, the [[LeBron James#2014–2016: Ending Cleveland's championship drought|end of Cleveland's championship drought]].


==Critical reception==
==Critical reception==
A number of reviewers comment on the balance between two aspects of the play: its deep dive into basketball, and its portrayal of communication between sports fans. In his Sun-Times review, Steven Oxman wrote that the play has "brisk and witty dialogue" but that some attendees might expect more "thematic darkness or sociopolitical-aesthetic-spiritual contemplation," given Rajiv Joseph's earlier plays.<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiSunT" /> Joey Morona suggested that the assumed level of basketball know-how may be overly esoteric for those who are not Cleveland sports fans.<ref name="2022-03-16-CleveCOM" /> [[Chris Jones (drama critic)|Chris Jones]], of the Chicago Tribune, emphasizes that the play is essentially about friendship, saying that it "tells a very moving, accessible and openhearted story of two friends." He also suggested that the audience's hunger for more basketball content might be met "in future drafts by amping up the LeBron and other NBA content"!<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiTr" />
A number of reviewers comment on the balance between the play's deep dive into basketball and its portrayal of friendship between sports fans. In his [[Chicago Sun-Times|''Chicago Sun-Times'']] review, Steven Oxman wrote that the play has "brisk and witty dialogue" but that some attendees might expect more "thematic darkness or sociopolitical-aesthetic-spiritual contemplation," given Joseph's earlier plays.<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiSunT" /> Joey Morona suggested that the assumed level of basketball know-how may be overly esoteric for those who are not Cleveland sports fans.<ref name="2022-03-16-CleveCOM" /> [[Chris Jones (drama critic)|Chris Jones]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' emphasized that the play is essentially about friendship, saying that it "tells a very moving, accessible and openhearted story of two friends." He also suggested that the audience's hunger for more basketball content might be met "in future drafts by amping up the LeBron and other NBA content."<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiTr" />


Barbara Vitello of suburban Chicago's [[Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois)|Daily Herald]] stressed the primacy that communication and friendship play, with all the ups and downs, in the dramatic arc of the piece.<ref name="2022-03-18-DailyHerald" /> Nancy Bishop described it, in Third Coast Review, as "a buddy play in the best sense of that term" and suggests that people unfamiliar with the arcana of basketball might want to "get educated with a lot of basketball" before going.<ref name="2022-03-17-3rdCoast" /> Bishop, Vitello and Oxman all praised the enhancement of the the "pre-game" and the "half-time" music by DJ Khloe Janel.<ref name="2022-03--Steppenwolf_Janel" /> Sheri Flanders of the Chicago Reader noted the Steppenwolf costume design by Samantha C. Jones as well as [[Todd Rosenthal]]'s highly detailed scenic design.<ref name="2022-03-16-ChiReader" />
Barbara Vitello of the ''[[Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois)|Daily Herald]]'' stressed the primacy that communication and friendship have in the dramatic arc of the piece.<ref name="2022-03-18-DailyHerald" /> Nancy Bishop described it in ''Third Coast Review'' as "a buddy play in the best sense of that term" and suggests that people unfamiliar with the arcana of basketball might want to "get educated with a lot of basketball" before going.<ref name="2022-03-17-3rdCoast" /> Bishop, Vitello, and Oxman all praised the enhancement of the music between scenes by DJ Khloe Janel.<ref name="2022-03--Steppenwolf_Janel" /> Sheri Flanders of the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' noted the [[costume design]] by Samantha C. Jones as well as [[Todd Rosenthal]]'s highly detailed [[scenic design]].<ref name="2022-03-16-ChiReader" />


==References==
==References==
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</ref>
</ref>


.<ref name="2022-03-09">{{cite news |title=The LeBron James drama off the court: ‘King James,’ at long last, has its tipoff time
<ref name="2022-03-09">{{cite news |title=The LeBron James drama off the court: 'King James,' at long last, has its tipoff time
|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-03-09/lebron-james-play-king-james-rajiv-joseph |access-date=2022-03-30
|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-03-09/lebron-james-play-king-james-rajiv-joseph |access-date=2022-03-30
|first=Lisa |last=Fung |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 9, 2022}}
|first=Lisa |last=Fung |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 9, 2022}}
</ref>
</ref>


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</ref>
</ref>


<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiSunT">{{cite news |title=<!-- ‘King James,’ -->Steppenwolf’s amusing take on basketball bros, a one-on-one worth watching
<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiSunT">{{cite news |title=<!-- 'King James,' -->Steppenwolf's amusing take on basketball bros, a one-on-one worth watching
|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/3/14/22977377/king-james-review-steppenwolf-theatre-chicago-lebron-cavaliers-chris-perfetti-glenn-davis-kenny-leon |access-date=2022-03-17
|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/3/14/22977377/king-james-review-steppenwolf-theatre-chicago-lebron-cavaliers-chris-perfetti-glenn-davis-kenny-leon |access-date=2022-03-17
|first=Steven |last=Oxman |publisher=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=March 14, 2022}}
|first=Steven |last=Oxman |publisher=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=March 14, 2022}}
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|url=https://www.steppenwolf.org/artists/khloe-janel/ |access-date=2022-03-26
|url=https://www.steppenwolf.org/artists/khloe-janel/ |access-date=2022-03-26
|publisher=[[Steppenwolf Theatre Company|Steppenwolf Theatre]] |date=March 2022}}
|publisher=[[Steppenwolf Theatre Company|Steppenwolf Theatre]] |date=March 2022}}
</ref>

<ref name="2022-06-09-LATimes">{{cite news |title=LeBron mania informs a tale of friendship in Rajiv Joseph's 'King James' at the Taper
|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-06-09/review-rajiv-josephs-new-drama-king-james-mark-taper-forum |access-date=2022-12-14
|first=Charles |last=McNulty |author-link=Charles McNulty |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=June 9, 2022}}
</ref>
</ref>


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==External links==
==External links==

[https://www.steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/seasons/2021-22/king-james/ King James at Steppenwolf.org]
* [https://www.steppenwolf.org/king-james ''King James'' at Steppenwolf]

[[Category:2022 plays]]
[[Category:American plays]]
[[Category:Cleveland in fiction]]
[[Category:NBA mass media]]
[[Category:Plays set in Ohio]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2003]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2004]]
[[Category:Plays set in the 2000s]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2010]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2014]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2016]]
[[Category:Plays set in the 2010s]]
[[Category:LeBron James]]

Latest revision as of 08:50, 4 January 2025

King James
King James poster
Written byRajiv Joseph
Directed byKenny Leon
CharactersMatt
Shawn
MuteDJ
Date premieredMarch 3, 2022 (2022-03-03)
Place premieredSteppenwolf Theatre
SettingCleveland

King James is a play written by Rajiv Joseph, which premiered in March 2022 at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, under the direction of Kenny Leon. The play's action is launched when two characters meet: Matt (Chris Perfetti), a Cleveland bartender with Cavaliers tickets he needs to sell, and Shawn (Glenn Davis), a writer who has recently published a short story and wants to buy tickets for the Cleveland Cavaliers 2003–2004 season – the first season with LeBron James playing.

Development

[edit]

Rajiv Joseph began to write the play in 2017, motivated to "preserve some of the experience of following and cheering" for LeBron James.[1] "Rajiv's first draft had a lot of basketball in it," according to Glenn Davis, who is a long-term friend of Joseph, but "as each new draft came in, the specifics about basketball began to disappear because Rajiv wanted to make sure this play was about friendship."[2]

The play, a co-production of the Steppenwolf and the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles was originally scheduled for production during their 2019–2020 seasons. The premiere was delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, until March 13, 2022 in Chicago and June 1, 2022 in Los Angeles.[3][4] Rajiv Joseph, Glenn Davis, and Kenny Leon, who was directing at Steppenwolf for the first time, were all longtime basketball fans, unlike Chris Perfetti.[2][1] Joseph said to Sarah Bahr of The New York Times: "Sometimes a love of the game is the only way people who have difficulty expressing their feelings are able to articulate them."[2]

Synopsis

[edit]

The play's drama derives from the ups and downs of Matt and Shawn's friendship, their careers, LeBron James's career. The play's four scenes take place at the time of Matt's and Shawn's initial meeting during the 2003–2004 Cavaliers season; six and a half years later at the time of The Decision, when James announced he was leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat; in 2014, when James returned to Cleveland; and in 2016, the end of Cleveland's championship drought.

Critical reception

[edit]

A number of reviewers comment on the balance between the play's deep dive into basketball and its portrayal of friendship between sports fans. In his Chicago Sun-Times review, Steven Oxman wrote that the play has "brisk and witty dialogue" but that some attendees might expect more "thematic darkness or sociopolitical-aesthetic-spiritual contemplation," given Joseph's earlier plays.[5] Joey Morona suggested that the assumed level of basketball know-how may be overly esoteric for those who are not Cleveland sports fans.[6] Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune emphasized that the play is essentially about friendship, saying that it "tells a very moving, accessible and openhearted story of two friends." He also suggested that the audience's hunger for more basketball content might be met "in future drafts by amping up the LeBron and other NBA content."[7]

Barbara Vitello of the Daily Herald stressed the primacy that communication and friendship have in the dramatic arc of the piece.[8] Nancy Bishop described it in Third Coast Review as "a buddy play in the best sense of that term" and suggests that people unfamiliar with the arcana of basketball might want to "get educated with a lot of basketball" before going.[9] Bishop, Vitello, and Oxman all praised the enhancement of the music between scenes by DJ Khloe Janel.[10] Sheri Flanders of the Chicago Reader noted the costume design by Samantha C. Jones as well as Todd Rosenthal's highly detailed scenic design.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Morona, Joey (March 4, 2022). "Cleveland native Rajiv Joseph's LeBron James-inspired play 'King James' premieres in Chicago". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  2. ^ a b c Bahr, Sarah (March 10, 2022). "LeBron Fandom, and the Making of a Friendship in 'King James'". New York Times. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  3. ^ Fung, Lisa (March 9, 2022). "The LeBron James drama off the court: 'King James,' at long last, has its tipoff time". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  4. ^ McNulty, Charles (June 9, 2022). "LeBron mania informs a tale of friendship in Rajiv Joseph's 'King James' at the Taper". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  5. ^ Oxman, Steven (March 14, 2022). "Steppenwolf's amusing take on basketball bros, a one-on-one worth watching". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  6. ^ Morona, Joey (March 16, 2022). "'King James' is an entertaining new play that speaks to the experience of being a Cleveland sports fan". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  7. ^ Jones, Chris (March 14, 2022). "In 'King James' at Steppenwolf Theatre, the love of LeBron James brings Cleveland friends together". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  8. ^ Vitello, Barbara (March 18, 2022). "Steppenwolf's 'King James' delivers powerful message on friendship". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  9. ^ Bishop, Nancy S. (March 17, 2022). "At Steppenwolf Theatre, King James Is All About Friendship, Heartbreak and Basketball". thirdcoastreview.com. 3rd Coast Review. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  10. ^ "Artist profiles – Khloe Janel". Steppenwolf Theatre. March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  11. ^ Flanders, Sheri (March 16, 2022). "King James explores basketball and male bonding". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
[edit]
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