Many men in the opening night audience were attracted to see “King James”, a two act play by Rajiv Joseph, running now through November 24 at GableStage in Coral Gables, because the title suggested the story would be about basketball superstar Lebron James and about the sport of basketball.
However, the play is neither about the life of James nor about the sport of basketball, but James and basketball loom large in the creation of the friendship between Matt (actor Gregg Weiner) and Shawn (Melvin Huffnagle). The premise of the introduction of Matt and Shawn in 2004 was initiated through Shawn wanting to buy a pair of tickets from Matt to see young rookie Lebron James play for his beloved hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
Their meeting led to an enduring friendship between the two men and the audience is going along for the journey over the next 12 years that sees ups and downs in the relationship between the two men, who basically bond over the love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron James.
share a toast celebrating their friendship and Lebron James in “King James” at GableStage. Photo by Magnus Stark
As their relationship grows and takes a winding road, both Matt and Shawn express love, dislike and even hate as they discuss openly about their careers, their families and, most importantly, how they feel about both Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The personal drama of both men changes as Lebron James bolted from playing for the Cavaliers to join the hated rival Miami Heat in 2010. While Matt is rational and calculates that James wants to join a team destined for a basketball championship, Shawn is angry and considers James a traitor.
By act two, Matt and Shawn are in 2014 and learn that James is returning to his Cleveland roots to play for the Cavaliers again. Once again, Matt is rational and calculates that James, having won the basketball championship with Miami Heat, sets out to do the same with the Cavaliers.
However, once again, Shawn feels that James whom he considered in the past as a hero, then a traitor, feels like he is being used again by James, and refuses to think of James as a hero despite his return to the Cavaliers.
The changes in the love and hate of the two men regarding Lebron James serves as a backdrop to their own changing relationship over the twelve years. Matt meets Shawn in the wine shop he works at in 2004 and Shawn is an aspiring writer. Over the next twelve years, Matt and Shawn bond not only over basketball, but also share in the good fortunes and consequences of their careers and their personal lives.
Matt introduces Shawn to his mother (unseen) and starts to resent Shawn because his mother offers Shawn a warm acceptance to the family. The anger between the two friends builds to tense moments, especially because Matt feels that Shawn is loved and respected more by his mother than he is.
James brings his hometown Cavaliers to a basketball championship in 2016, but Matt and Shawn are not necessarily jubilant due to tensions and ambitions and meet in the final scenes of the play to see if they could resolve both their feelings about each other as well as Lebron James.
Actors Weiner and Huffnagle were equally superb, engaging the audience over their love and hate regarding James and each other in a gripping play filled with both tension, comic moments and sentiment. Joseph wrote an excellent play that is especially appealing to men, who were the majority in the opening night audience, which included Ron Rothstein, the first coach of the Miami Heat.
Director Ruben Carranzana, who directed Weiner in many past GableStage productions, excelled in creating the casual, comic and heated exchanges between Huffnagle and Weiner. Scenic designer Frank J. Olivia created two impressive lifelike sets of a wine bar and a store used in act two.
The many behind the scenes staff at GableStage, including the ushers who dressed as basketball referees, are to be congratulated for making the audience feel as if they attended a basketball game.
GableStage Artistic Director Bari Newport had the foresight of booking “King James” to the current GableStage season and succeeded in attracting more men to the theater because of the sports theme in the play.
