By SHARON EBERSON
It might put you at ease to know that you don’t have to be a sports fan to cheer for King James, a funny and poignant ode to lifelong fandom and an underdog friendship, struggling mightily to survive against all odds.
If you fear you need pre-show help on the “King” LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers fronts, not to worry. City Theatre’s production, its 50th-anniversary season finale, provides a perfectly rendered digital scoreboard above the stage that, as you walk in, plays a highlight reel about the future Hall of Famer, still a dominating NBA player at age 40.
Playwright Rajiv Joseph’s template for sports as a metaphor for bonding might hold true for any exploration of fandom and friendship – think the Eras Tour, substituting LeBron James’ fans for Swifties, and the Pop Queen for the King of the Court.
The intense two-hander scores big points by virtue of character-building and a sense of place. City’s production of King James perfectly encapsulates a rocky relationship that is based on the love of sports and evolves into something more, with outstanding performances by Pittsburgh’s Michael Patrick Trimm and Cleveland’s Robert Hunter.
KIng James is directed by Monteze Freeland, in his last production as City co-artistic director — Councilman Bob Charland was on hand to declare opening night, April 25, 2025, Monteze Freeland Day in Pittsburgh. The prolific theater-maker, whose next stop is Pittsburgh’s Alumni Theatre Company in Homewood, directs with a keen understanding of how sports fandom equates with hometown pride — you are born with that “orientation,” notes one character – and how it can shape every aspect of behavior, if you let it.
Trimm’s Matt and Hunter’s Shawn are each in their own ways coils of pent up emotions that simmer to a boil and spring to the surface, sometimes in joy, sometimes in agony, and at other times, when enough is enough.
Hunter’s Shawn, an aspiring writer, is at times the king of emotional outbursts, whether sparked by hearing that James has left Cleveland for the Miami Heat, then returned to Cleveland, or having been triggered by a remark that screams racism.
Trimm imbues Matt — who dreams of owning a popular Downtown celebrity haunt — with a palpable frustration. His exaggerated swagger when things are going well hides barely contained resentments and disappointments. His go-to phrase, when the going gets tough, is, “That’s what’s wrong with America …”
The unlikely friendship of the two men starts at age 21, in the midst of James’ rookie season, when Matt has to sell his season tickets to pay debts due to a bad investment. Shawn arrives at La Cave au Vin, the well-appointed wine bar where Matt works, prepared to pay a hard-earned $2,000, when Matt is in need of much more. The tickets also represent the one place where Matt and his father have enjoyed a good relationship, going to Cavs’ games from the age of 6.
Shawn has never seen his beloved team in person, which is the clincher for Matt, and seals their fateful bond. The unlikely friendship unfolds, between a Black man who has already published a short story while working two jobs, and Matt, a white man whose parents deride his ambitions and would prefer he work with them, in their odd curio shop, noted for the stuffed armadillo (“little armored one”) in the window.
We revisit Matt and Shawn three more times — four quarters and a halftime (intermission) — during 12 years of James’ career, culminating in the LeBron-led Cavaliers first NBA Championship in 52 years, in 2016.
During each successive meeting, neither Matt nor Shawn are on equal standing, career-wise. When one is up, the other is down, which is reflected by points on the scoreboard. I don’t like the concept as a matter of principle, but it is obvious the two men are keeping score, as we all are likely to do. It’s not just a macho trope. Seeing a friend succeed when you are down on your luck is bound to bring up mixed feelings.
The scoreboard not only keeps tabs on the Cavaliers and the two players on the stage, but it provides scenes of a changing America. The play glancingly deals with the racial divide between the two friends that you might expect, as the murder of George Floyd morphs into further violence amid the Black Lives Matters protests.
Matt’s deep-seated resentments of Shawn are never expressed, but they exist as underlying tension that permeates their friendship. His “bro“ develops a closeness Matt’s parents that he has longed for but never achieved. Seeing Shawn virtually adopted by his mother and father, and given encouragement when he has been met with mostly criticism and disappointment, fuels Matt into a Devil’s advocate stance — he even dares to say that Michael Jordan is the GOAT of pro basketball players, and that James doesn’t deserve the crown of a “King.” Heresy!
The two actors feed off their character’s highs and lows, at times leading with gamesmanship that only hints at truth, sparring and parting, fighting and forgiving, as friends often do.
Ultimately, the play is an emotionally satisfying, visually arresting examination of holding on to what drew two people together in the first place, and sticking with it, through better and worse, victories and losses.
Master designer Tony Ferrieri’s inspired set, which began its journey in this King James co-production at the Cleveland Play House, does not dwell on the sports theme nor the city, except for the scoreboard above and the wood floor. In between, life happens. The stage is beautifully lit by Jakyung C. Seo; Jasmine A Golphin provides the scoreboard projections. Noteworthy is the swivel of the turntable that reveals the second set, “Armand’s Antiques,” a process that comes as a visual slam dunk to start the second act.
As I nodded knowingly throughout King James on opening night, at reactions to every major moment in the fandom shared by Matt and Shaw, I felt assured that not only was I the perfect target audience for King James, but so, too, was every Steelers, Penguins or long-suffering Pirates fan.
We are not talking bandwagon fans, as the play notes. If you loved the Penguins before the arrivals of Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, or stuck with the Cavaliers during the frustrating Brad Daugherty and Mike Price years, or if, like me, your New York Rangers have won one Stanley Cup in the past 85 years, well, you know what I mean.
An inherent theme is how fandom bordering on fanaticism can stunt growth and responsibility. Shawn questions this notion aloud, briefly, but effectively. It’s also part of a comical exchange, where Matt floats that the root of “fan” isn’t fanatic, but perhaps, “electric fan.”
The final meeting of the two old friends, as Cleveland celebrates the Cavs’ championship season, finds them one again at very different points in their lives, reopening old wounds, but with the opportunity for healing.
When the buzzer sounded for King James on Friday, I couldn’t help but wonder what overtime might look like, if it began with James once again breaking the hearts of Cleveland fans by heading to Los Angeles, and fast-forwarding to today, with the Cavaliers, finishing first in the Eastern Conference, LA, third in the West …
As a pro basketball fan who grew up in New York (go Knicks!), it was admittedly a boost to watch a play about basketball fandom in the midst of the NBA Playoffs. As a fan of theater, King James hit home as a blue-chip production, visually arresting, two actors finding the sweet spot of comedy and emotional resonance, and an insightful exploration of fandom and friendship.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
City Theatre’s co-production of King James opens runs through May 11, 2025, at City’s Mainstage Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, on the South Side. Tickets at https://citytheatre.culturaldistrict.org/production/94451/king-james.
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