King James (play): Difference between revisions
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<ref name="2022-03-04-CleveCOM">{{cite web |title=Cleveland native Rajiv |
<ref name="2022-03-04-CleveCOM">{{cite web |title=Cleveland native Rajiv Joseph's LeBron James-inspired play 'King James' premieres in Chicago |
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|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/03/cleveland-native-rajiv-josephs-lebron-james-inspired-play-king-james-premieres-in-chicago.html |access-date=2022-03-23 |
|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/03/cleveland-native-rajiv-josephs-lebron-james-inspired-play-king-james-premieres-in-chicago.html |access-date=2022-03-23 |
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|first=Joey |last=Morona|website=[[The Plain Dealer#Cleveland.com|cleveland.com]] |date=March 4, 2022}} |
|first=Joey |last=Morona|website=[[The Plain Dealer#Cleveland.com|cleveland.com]] |date=March 4, 2022}} |
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<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes">{{cite news |title=LeBron Fandom, and the Making of a Friendship in |
<ref name="2022-03-10-NYTimes">{{cite news |title=LeBron Fandom, and the Making of a Friendship in 'King James' |
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|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/theater/king-james-play-chicago-steppenwolf.html |access-date=2022-03-22 |
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/theater/king-james-play-chicago-steppenwolf.html |access-date=2022-03-22 |
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|first=Sarah |last=Bahr | |
|first=Sarah |last=Bahr |work=[[The New York Times|New York Times]] |date=March 10, 2022}} |
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<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiTr">{{cite news |title=In |
<ref name="2022-03-14-ChiTr">{{cite news |title=In 'King James' at Steppenwolf Theatre, the love of LeBron James brings Cleveland friends together |
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|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/ct-ent-king-james-steppenwolf-theatre-review-20220314-4utpcs532vcj3ksiadu3bisiyi-story.html |access-date=2022-03-16 |
|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/ct-ent-king-james-steppenwolf-theatre-review-20220314-4utpcs532vcj3ksiadu3bisiyi-story.html |access-date=2022-03-16 |
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|first=Chris |last=Jones |publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=March 14, 2022}} |
|first=Chris |last=Jones |publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=March 14, 2022}} |
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<ref name="2022-03-16-CleveCOM">{{cite web |title= |
<ref name="2022-03-16-CleveCOM">{{cite web |title='King James' is an entertaining new play that speaks to the experience of being a Cleveland sports fan |
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|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/03/king-james-is-an-entertaining-new-play-that-speaks-to-the-experience-of-being-a-cleveland-sports-fan.html |access-date=2022-03-23 |
|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/03/king-james-is-an-entertaining-new-play-that-speaks-to-the-experience-of-being-a-cleveland-sports-fan.html |access-date=2022-03-23 |
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|first=Joey |last=Morona |website=[[The Plain Dealer#Cleveland.com|cleveland.com]] |date=March 16, 2022}} |
|first=Joey |last=Morona |website=[[The Plain Dealer#Cleveland.com|cleveland.com]] |date=March 16, 2022}} |
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Revision as of 21:29, 27 March 2022
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King James is a play written by Rajiv Joseph, which premiered at the 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), 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.
Development
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 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.”[2]
The play's scheduled production during the Steppenwolf 2019-2020 season was delayed for two years by the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.[2][1] 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."
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", in 2014 when James returned to Cleveland, and in 2016, the end of Cleveland's championship drought.
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 says 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[3] and Joey Morona suggests that the assumed level of basketball know-how may be overly esoteric for those who are not Cleveland sports fans.[4] On the other hand, Chris Jones, of the Chicago Tribune, suggests that the audience's hunger for more basketball content might be met "in future drafts by amping up the LeBron and other NBA content"[5]
However, all these reviewers also emphasize the primacy that communication and friendship play, with all their ups and downs, in the dramatic arc of the piece, as does Barbara Vitello of suburban Chicago's Daily Herald.[6] Vitello and Steven Oxman describe the contribution of the DJ, Khloe Janel,[7] in enhancing the "pre-game" and "half-time" music. Sheri Flanders of the Chicago Reader praises the Steppenwolf costume design by Samantha C. Jones and describes Todd Rosenthal's highly detailed scenic design.[8]
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Bahr, Sarah (March 10, 2022). "LeBron Fandom, and the Making of a Friendship in 'King James'". New York Times. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Vitello, Barbara (March 18, 2022). "Steppenwolf's 'King James' delivers powerful message on friendship". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ "Artist profiles – Khloe Janel". Steppenwolf Theatre. March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ Flanders, Sheri (March 16, 2022). "King James explores basketball and male bonding". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2022-03-23.