Photo credit: Broadway World
I assumed that King James, named after the famous Cleveland Cavaliers’ basketball player LeBron James was about LeBron. Au contraire, it’s about male friendship, and LeBron, and a winner of a play.
Rajiv Joseph is a favorite of mine. Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo and Guards at the Taj were memorable theater experiences. Now he is a member of the Steppenwolf Ensemble—a great addition. Joseph is a native of Cleveland.
I’m not a man, but a woman knows that most male friendships differ from female friendships, and friendships between the sexes. Women can be more direct with one another, share more, do more for friends. Men seem to triangulate, bonding over a mutual interest, in this case sports. It’s usually a safe subject, and when one sports geek finds a similar fan, they share joy—but not much else.
Shawn (Glenn Davis) and Matt (Chris Perfetti) share the Cavaliers. The play begins in LeBron’s rookie year, and Matt has tickets to sell. Matt and his father shared them since childhood. Now Dad’s infirmed and Matt needs money. Enter Shawn, who heard about the tickets through a friend of a friend, and has $2000 (just earned from the first sale of a short story) he can spend on the tickets. Way less than Matt has in mind. It’s 19 games x two tickets—valuable tickets. The young men spar as the negotiation proceeds, and ends with the $2,000 sale and Shawn agreeing that Matt will be his seatmate. The friendship begins.
As the Cavaliers fate ebbs and flows, so do Shawn and Matt’s. An interesting subtext is the bond that develops between Shawn and Matt’s mother as Matt grows more apart from his former homelife. There is a slight exposure of the race card as Matt threatens Shawn with a,” You don’t belong here!” that caused the audience to gasp. Though Shawn is black and Matt white, that was not played until the end of Act One. It’s the first personal emotions shown by the two.
Photo credit: Chicago Tribune
Photo credit: Chicago Tribune
When Act Two opens it’s back to basketball, LeBron’s departure for Miami to win a championship. Matt, now a successful partner in a nightclub, helps Shawn move to LA to pursue a career writing for TV.
In the end, LeBron comes backs to Cleveland and so does Shawn. Matt damned the Cavs and LeBron’s departure. Matt’s personal fortunes reversed; he is bitter and truculent. Shawn has been successful in LA. He’s still a Cavs fan and takes LeBron over Jordan any day. The Cavs win the Championship with Lebron. Ultimately Matt and Shawn rekindle their friendship on a deeper level.
The scenic design by Todd Rosenthal is noteworthy, the stage revolving from Matt’s bartending environment, Le Cave du Vin, to the upholstery/junk shop of Matt’s mom, Armando’s. They provided a safe enclosure as the actors spar verbally and physically.
Glenn Davis and Chris Perfetti are well cast. Glenn Davis is smoother, softer—a perfect Shawn. Chris Perfetti is skinny, pointy, nervous—Matt made real. They are great foils. Kudos to Kenny Leon for perfect direction.
This play will probably go to Broadway. See it while you can.