by Alan Jozwiak
The rise of LeBron and the fortunes of die-hard Cavs fans form the basis of Know Theatre’s season opener, King James by Rajiv Joseph. Joseph is a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. He is also known for the widely produced Gruesome Playground Injuries. He is also an Ohioan, and a Miami University alum.
Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, sports was more of a religion than a pastime. None of the sports teams were winning any championships, so there were some long-suffering fans.
Some of the most long-suffering sports fans were Cavs basketball fans. They had not won a championship game since 1964 and did not have any hope of ever winning a championship game.
This all changed in 2003 with the coming of a rookie basketball player named LeBron James. Suddenly Cleveland is winning games against tough opponents and the possibility of a championship is in reach.
What could go wrong? Obviously, a lot–since Cleveland didn’t finally win the championship until 2016.
The Action
King James tells the story of two men, Matt (Kieran Cronin) and Shawn (Phillip Latham), whose fortunes are set against key moments in LeBron James’ career. At the start of the show, Matt is trying to sell his remaining Cavs home game courtside seats to Shawn. What develops between the two men is a lasting friendship that has its ups and downs.
Direction and Design
Director Darnell Pierre Benjamin chose an intimate setting for this two-hander, creating a stage in the small space between the end of the Know Underground bar and the ramp leading to the Underground. This is the first time Know has configured the Underground to accomodate a show in this way and it works quite well for this play.
The action ends up being contained in a space larger than the Underground stage, but smaller than the mainstage. As such, King James feels more like a jewel-box show because of its close proximity to the audience. The only quibble with the set is that they have a period television playing excerpts from James’ games at the start of each scene. The screen is small and it is hard to see some of the action.
Bravo for Scenic Designer Drew Homan for configuring a set to take advantage of that unusual space.
Performances
Benjamin’s direction allows the actors to find themselves within their action. Everything about the production feels organic and the actors feel at home with what they are doing onstage.
Benjamin chose two wonderfully talented actors to play Matt and Shawn. Kieran Cronin plays Matt and was last seen as part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival’s production of One Gay Wedding and Absolutely No Funerals as the goofy best man Mike.
Equally strong is Phillip Latham as Shawn. Latham played Samuel L. Jackson and other characters in Know Theatre’s Blerds last season. In this production, Latham is able to show a wide range of emotions and also keeps things real by finding the humanity and humor of his character. The scene where Shawn and Matt have a fight in Act II takes on greater impact because of the authenticity of Latham’s acting.
Overall
In short, King James is a strong piece of theater which showcases the talents of its director and two actors. I also appreciated all of the Cleveland Easter Egg references to things native Cleveland-ers would recognize, such as St. Ignatius High School and Magic 105.7 FM.
If you are concerned about not being a basketball fan, have no fears. I went to the show with someone who knows nothing about basketball and she was just as engaged by the show as I was.
Tickets to King James
King James runs September 11-27 at Know Theatre, with performances at 7:30 pm Thursday through Saturday and 2:00 pm on Sundays. This year, the Thursday performances will take the place of the Welcome Wednesday performances where there are a limited number of free tickets for each Thursday performance.
Fun fact: This production uses a taxidermy armadillo (Armand) which Know Theatre rented from Steppenwolf, who originally premiered the play in 2022. Producing Artistic Director Bridget Leak will escort Armand back to Steppenwolf once the show closes. She is planning a getaway weekend in Chicago filled with theater–and other armadillo-related activities.
