Bonding over Basketball
“That team saved my life. so don’t tell me I’m a bandwagon fan. I’m not.”
Shawn
This play by Rajiv Joseph who wrote Guards at the Taj is about two men bonding over their love of basketball. The King James of the title is not a Scottish monarch but 6 feet 9 inches basketball star LeBron James who brought success to his home team in Ohio, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two protagonists are Matt (Sam Mitchell) who wants to open a basketball themed bar and restaurant and Shawn (Enyi Okoronkwo) who is answering a word of mouth tip to buy some Cav tickets from Matt.
In 2004, they meet in the bar where Matt is working and start negotiations for the batch of tickets. The season tickets have been given to Matt by his father but he needs to sell them to pay a debt. Shawn has nothing like the amount of money Matt is asking but persists in offering as much as he can afford. The two men discuss their up coming basketball hero LeBron James comparing him to Michael Jordan in the basketball stakes of greatness.
Matt has an awkward relationship with his parents. His father refused to pay to send him to St Ignatius, the Catholic school, Shawn went to on a scholarship, and it seems they always criticise him. Shawn comes from a poorer family and has three jobs, in a law firm, clearing tables and writing short stories. The play is divided into quarters and the second quarter is six and a half years later. Shawn hadn’t thought through buying pairs and having no-one to go with to the 19 games and we can assume he took Matt and they became friends.
.At the end of the second quarter, Shawn says he is going to New York to pursue his writing career and Matt feels abandoned. The men’s fortunes change over the years alongside LeBron James moving teams to Miami and only coming back to Cleveland in 2014. In the third quarter, Matt is estrsanged from his parents but Shawn is in touch with them and working in Matt’s mother’s shop. There are two sets by Good Teeth, the bar in what was once a chapel and the shop full of curiosities.
This play is a portrait of the endearing friendship between Matt and Shawn. The naturalness of their conversation and their openness with one another makes for interesting theatre as we learn about their history and development. This kind of play fits well into Hampstead’s downstairs space with good performances and direction.
Production Notes
King James
Written by Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Alice Hamilton
Cast
Starring:
Ényi Okoronkwo
Sam Mitchell
Creatives
Director: Alice Hamilton
Designer: Good Teeth
Lighting Designer: Matt Haskins
Sound Designer: Max Pappenheim
Information
Running Time: One hour 40 minutes with an interval
Booking to 4th January 2025
Theatre:
Hampstead Theatre
Eton Avenue
Swiss Cottage
London NW3 3EU
Phone: 020 7722 9301
Tube: Swiss Cottage
Reviewed
by Lizzie Loveridge at
Hampstead Theatre Downstairs
on 21st November 2024