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Double-Double: 'King James' brings unlikely friends together through basketball at Vortex Theatre
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United by their passion of basketball, Shawn and Matt, develop an unconventional friendship during the LeBron James’ time in Cleveland that brought hope and renewed the city’s spirit in the comedy “King James.”
The play by Rajiv Joseph comes to the Vortex Theatre stage Friday through Sunday, from Friday, Feb. 14, through March 9. The production, under the direction of Stephanie Grilo, features two sets of cast members alternating roles of Shawn and Matt each night. Marcus Ivey and Jamey Greyson play Shawn and Jay Hobson and Tom Ragan portray Matt.
“(Joseph is) really well known for writing these masterfully written two person plays,” Grilo said. “He works oftentimes in small casts within his playwriting. And so, this play is about two male characters who live in Cleveland, Ohio, in the early stages of LeBron James’ rookie year for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They come across each other basically to buy off of each other some tickets to go see the game. Afterwards, it just turns into this really lovely friendship between this young Black man and this young white man.”
The two men debate about who is the better basketball star, Michael Jordan or James.
“They’re arguing about who’s the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time), Jordan or LeBron, but eventually, their friendship becomes a little jaded and impaired over time because of class differences, race differences, and so we really see this incredible journey of two pretty hyper, masculine men, but also the real humanity, humility and empathy we have toward these guys.”
Grilo grew up playing sports and said directing this performance has similar components to preparing for and playing a game.
“I’m actually writing my director’s notes for the program right now,” she said. “And a lot of what I talk about in this is the performative nature of sports and the process of sports is incredibly similar to putting on a production for a play. You know, we have to rehearse, practice, right? We have to know our plays or our lines and our blocking. We have to work as a team. We have to collaborate. We have an end goal. It’s all very similar, in my mind.”
“King James” is Grilo’s directorial debut at the Vortex Theatre where she has performed for the past 15 years.
“Mostly I’ve just been seen on stages in various productions throughout the years at the Vortex, but this is actually my first time directing at the Vortex,” she said.
Grilo was drawn to theater in high school. She later went on to receive an undergraduate degree in theater and performance and a master’s degree in dramatic writing. She currently teaches in the theater departments at the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College.
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“Theater saved my life,” she said. “In high school, I had two paths I could have chosen, and one was not looking so great for my future, and one included theater,” she explained. “And once I really invested my time and dedicated myself to working in my high school theater program, I just couldn’t stop. It became kind of a necessary thing for me to do.”
