Richmond Shakespeare will present \u201cKing James,\u201d a comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Rajiv Joseph, running Jan. 15 through Feb. 1 at Virginia Repertory Theatre\u2019s Theatre Gym. <\/p>\n
The play follows Shawn and Matt, two men from different backgrounds whose friendship develops over a shared devotion to basketball. Spanning NBA legend LeBron James\u2019 years in Cleveland, the story explores loyalty, disappointment, ambition and identity, with the characters debating trades, championships and the meaning of greatness along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A clever, intimate comedy, \u201cKing James\u201d explores the role sports play in relationships and how the stories people obsess over reveal who they are and who they hope to become. Artistic Director James Ricks said the play \u201ccaptures something real about our time: how we bond through fandom, how we often argue our way into friendship, and how the stories we obsess over reveal who we\u2019re becoming. It\u2019s something that I think is particularly prevalent in male relationships, and Rajiv Joseph has done a magnificent job capturing that dynamic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Director Rick St. Peter said Joseph\u2019s play is \u201ca very funny and heartfelt look at friendship and fandom\u2014and the prices we pay for each. It also desperately wants to know the answer to the question, \u2018Who is the GOAT of basketball?\u2019 There is only one answer, but you\u2019ll have to come to the show to discover it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Critics have praised the play for its humor and emotional depth. The New York Times called it \u201ca touching examination of male friendship and the powerful social currents beneath it.\u201d TheaterMania said Joseph has created \u201cone of the funniest and most moving plays about friendship in years\u2026 Basketball fans will love Joseph\u2019s insider jokes, but even if you don\u2019t follow the game all that much, \u2018King James\u2019 is a must-see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKing James\u201d will be staged in the Theatre Gym, an intimate black box space that places audiences \u201ccourtside\u201d for the story. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For more information, visit richmondshakespeare.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richmond Shakespeare will present \u201cKing James,\u201d a comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Rajiv Joseph,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-370061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}