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Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
(from left) Caleb Foote as Matt and Joshua Echebiri as Shawn in King James, 2024. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
March 9 – April 7, 2024
Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
By Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Justin Emeka
The breathtaking career of NBA icon LeBron James is the backdrop for this energetic and funny play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph. Shawn is Black and Matt is White, and they couldn’t be more different—except for their love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The friendship that develops between them, at turns contentious and compassionate, becomes something as enduring and profound as James’s legacy itself. Interwoven with moments of camaraderie, laughter, and poignancy, King James dives into the heart of basketball fandom and highlights the profound connections that sports can cultivate.
This production includes strong language and mature themes.
Running time: Two hours (two acts with one intermission).
Vicki and Carl Zeiger Insights Seminar: Tuesday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m.
Community Night: Friday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Post Show Forum: Tuesday, March 19; Wednesday, March 20; and Tuesday, March 26.
Rajiv Joseph (Playwright) Select theatre: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Outstanding New American Play from National Endowment for the Arts), Animals Out of Paper, All This Intimacy (Second Stage Theater), The Leopard and the Fox (AlterEgo), Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre). Other honors: Vineyard Theatre’s Paula Vogel Award, Kesselring Fellowship. The Fire Department: founding member, contributing writer on Speakeasy, At War: American Playwrights Respond to the War in Iraq. Other: Lark Playwriting Fellowship, Dramatists Guild Fellowship, Lecturer at NYU, three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal. Education: B.A. in Creative Writing from Miami University, M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Justin Emeka (Director) (he/him/his) The Old Globe: assistant director for Hamlet, King Richard II. Off Broadway directing: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet (Classical Theatre of Harlem). Regional directing: Sweat (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Stick Fly (Intiman Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Harlem, Sweat, Two Trains Running (Pittsburgh Public Theater), Sunset Baby (Dobama Theatre), Detroit ’67, Paradise Blue (Karamu House), A Raisin in the Sun (ArtsWest). Educational directing: A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Juilliard), The Boogie Gentleman (NYU Grad), Macbeth, The Bluest Eye, Death of a Salesman (Oberlin College). Other: Drama League fellow, SDC Executive Board member. justinemeka.com, @jemeka1 on Instagram.
Lawrence E. Moten III (Scenic Design)(he/him/his) Broadway: Chicken & Biscuits (Circle in the Square).New York: The White Chip (MCC), Covenant (Roundabout), Patience (2ST Uptown), STEW (Page 73). Regional: Twelfth Night, Trouble in Mind (The Old Globe), Black Cypress Bayou (Geffen), Bulrusher (McCarter, Berkeley Rep), Faust (Wolf Trap), Proof, Once Upon a Bridge, The Brothers Size (American Players), Blues for an Alabama Sky (McCarter, Guthrie), Appropriate, The Little Foxes (South Coast Rep), Christmas in Connecticut (Goodspeed), This Little Light of Mine (Santa Fe Opera), Fairview (Wilma), it’s not a trip, it’s a journey, We Declare You a Terrorist… (Round House). Member: Local USA 829. motendesigns.com, @motendesigns.
Sarita Fellows (Costume Design) Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Recent: Death of a Salesman (Broadway), Drinking in America (Audible/Minetta Lane Theatre), Theater of the Mind (Denver Center), Elyria (Atlantic Theater Company), Blues for an Alabama Sky, Sweat (Guthrie Theater), Joy and Pandemic, Our Daughters Like Pillars (Huntington Theatre), Seize the King (Alliance Theatre), A Bright Room Called Day (The Public Theater), Fefu and Her Friends (American Conservatory Theater). Dance: work with choreographers such as Liz Lerman, Edisa Weeks. Awards: 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design from the National Black Theatre Festival, 2020 Lily Award. Education: M.F.A. in Design from Tisch School of Design.
Abigail Hoke-Brady (Lighting Design) Selected work: The White Chip (MCC Theater), The Night Falls (Peak Performances), Don Pasquale (Opera Omaha), Roméo et Juliette, Otello, Kiss Me, Kate (Central City Opera), Così fan Tutte (San Diego Opera), How I Learned What I Learned (PlayMakers Repertory Company), MukhAgni (Under the Radar/The Public Theater), Portrait and a Dream (Contemporaneous), Bound (Fresh Squeezed Opera), Rigoletto (Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera), Glory Denied, Three Decembers (Tri-Cities Opera). Other: resident designer at DiMenna Center for Classical Music, member of USA 829. hokebradydesigns.com, @hokebradydesigns on Instagram.
Lindsay Jones (Sound Design) Broadway: Slave Play (Tony nominations for Best Original Score, Best Sound Design of a Play), The Nap, Bronx Bombers, A Time to Kill. Off Broadway: Privacy (Public Theater), Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Feeding the Dragon (Primary Stages), others. Regional: The Old Globe, Guthrie, Center Stage, ACT, Hartford Stage, Alliance, Goodman, Arena, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, others. International: Stratford Festival (Canada), Royal Shakespeare Company (England), others. Audio dramas: Marvel, Audible, Next Chapter Podcasts, award-winning “The Imagine Neighborhood.” Film/television scoring: HBO’s A Note of Triumph (2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subjects). Other: Co-Chair of Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA). lindsayjones.com.
Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) The Old Globe: English, The Age of Innocence, Exotic Deadly, Under a Baseball Sky, What We Talk About…, Dial M for Murder, Mala, Shutter Sisters, Hurricane Diane, Noura, They Promised Her the Moon, Tiny Beautiful Things, Barefoot in the Park, The Wanderers, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Skeleton Crew. Select Broadway: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Grey House, Ohio State Murders, Macbeth, The Minutes, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, King Lear, Hillary and Clinton, Ink, The Waverly Gallery, Three Tall Women, Meteor Shower, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Jitney, The Glass Menagerie, Blackbird, Disgraced. Additional theatre: MTC, Signature, Atlantic, Vineyard. Television: “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “American Odyssey” (NBC).
Sam Allen (Production Stage Manager) The Old Globe: Pleasant with Powers New Voices Festival, The Merry Wives of Windsor, workshop of All Day. Regional credits: Animals Out of Paper, Flowers of Hawaii (Chautauqua Theater Company), #SLACabaret (Salt Lake Acting Company), Cherry Wine in Paper Cups (Sackerson), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (West Valley Performing Arts), The Audacity, Where Are You From?, Flora Meets a Bee, P.G. Anon (Plan-B Theatre), Prometheus Bound, Women of Trachis (Classic Greek Theatre Festival). Education: B.F.A. in Stage Management and Directing from Westminster University, M.F.A. in Stage Management from University of California, Irvine.
