WINNING ASSIST
Big hits can come in small packages. The wonderful production of King James — which opened last night at the Old Globe Theatre — has only two characters and runs only about 1 hour and 45 minutes (plus one intermission), but it has enough humor, drama, and warmth to stoke a play twice its length.
The title character is that rarity in the American theater, a sports hero. The hero is a real-life star professional basketball player named LeBron James, and he doesn’t even appear on stage, though his name arises dozens of times. What the viewer does see are Matt and Shawn, two engaging young men in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, whose sports passion is rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a professional basketball team that hadn’t won a league championship in 50 years.
Caleb Foote as Matt and Joshua Echebiri as Shawn
Matt (Caleb Foote) first encounters Shawn (Joshua Echebiri) at a local wine bar where Matt works. Their initial meeting feeds on their obsession with basketball and the lads soon consider themselves best friends. That obsession centers on their mutual dedication to the Cavaliers and the team’s star, LeBron James. And when James signs with a team in a different city, their world contracts and Matt feels bitter and betrayed.
There isn’t much physical action in King James but lots of comedy, especially in the first act. Matt is white and Shawn is black. Their color isn’t a factor in the play until the second act, when a comment by Matt offends Shawn, who sees racial overtones that Matt angrily denies, threatening the friendship.
King James is written by American dramatist Rajiv Joseph (Guards at the Taj, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), who keeps the audience laughing for almost the entire first act and deftly shifts emotional gears in the final act when the racial dispute erupts over Matt’s divisive choice of words. Spoiling nothing, their story’s ending is as satisfying for the audience as it is for both characters. Throughout, Mr. Joseph underscores the play’s emphasis on the value of friendship and relationships. Perhaps the playwright’s most telling line is “I think that when you get older you realize how much certain people mean to you.”
Viewers with no basketball background shouldn’t worry about being intimidated by the multiple basketball references. This is a very accessible and human play garnished with easily absorbed sports embellishments. And who in this country hasn’t heard of LeBron James?
Foote and Echebiri are flawless in their compatibility and realism. The script cedes Matt the best lines in the opening two scenes, which he dominates with high-spirited comic relish. Echebiri raises the play’s emotional temperature in the last third of the play with his anger over Matt’s throwaway remark. Behind the scenes, Justin Emeka guides his acting duo with the surest of directorial hands, subtly displaying both the broad humor and the intense realism of the playwright’s script while neatly fitting the staging into the Globe’s theater-in-the-round performing space.
The Old Globe team of designers back up the superior acting with their spot-on visual and aural contributions. So full marks to Lawrence E. Moten III (scenery), Sarita Fellows (costumes), Abigail Hoke-Brady (lighting), and Lindsay Jones (sound).
photos by Rich Soublet II
King James
The Old Globe
Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in the Presbys Theatre Center
1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park
Tues-Thurs at 7; Fri at 8; Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 2 & 7
ends on March 31, 2024 EXTENDED to April 7, 2024
for tickets (beginning at $33), call 619.334.5623 or visit The Old Globe
