Syracuse Stage continues its 2024/2025 season with Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Rajiv Joseph’s “King James,” a slam dunk celebration of basketball, friendship and fandom. Directed by Jamil Jude, “King James” is a co-production with Indiana Repertory Theatre and will run Feb. 26 to March 16 in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.
“Sporting events, like theatre, offer that rare opportunity to bring people together, to share common, communal experiences,” says artistic director Robert Hupp. “We invite everyone—sports fans and not so much sports fans—to join us for this amazing new play about friendship: the ups and downs, the complexity and the care that reflects what it means to love something bigger than ourselves, and each other.”
2004. Cleveland. First round draft pick LeBron James is poised to become one of the greats, while two superfans bond over a pair of season tickets and the arrival of “the King” to the Cavaliers’ court. But LeBron has other plans, and his “decision” will transform Matt and Shawn’s friendship into a high-stakes game of shifting loyalties, brutal upsets and the bittersweet thrill of life’s buzzer-beating redemptions. A sharp, unflinching and intimate look at the space that sports occupy in today’s America, Rajiv Joseph’s “King James” invites us to find common ground beyond our hometown team while comically measuring the distance between fan and fanatic.
“King James” features Quinn M. Johnson as Matt and Enoch King as Shawn (Photo courtesy of Syracuse Stage)
“Sports can bring disparate people together, and yet, the fanaticism of some can further the divides in our world,” says director Jamil Jude. “As an avid sports fan, I fully embrace the ups and downs of being a sports fan—it is as close as one can get to the pathos of live theatre!”
“King James” features Quinn M. Johnson and Enoch King as Matt and Shawn, the two basketball-obsessed Clevelanders brought together under LeBron’s reign. The design team includes star players from previous Syracuse Stage productions, including sets by Czerton Lim (“Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express”) and lighting by Dawn Chiang (“Dial M for Murder”). Making their Syracuse Stage debuts are designers Ari Fulton (costumes) and Mikaela Fraser (sound).
Jude is a highly accomplished director, producer, playwright and dramaturg focused on bringing socially relevant art to the community. He is the artistic director at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta and is the co-founder of the New Griots Festival, which is dedicated to celebrating, advocating and advancing the careers of emerging Black artists in Minneapolis–St. Paul. Jude attended Colgate University, where he played football as a cornerback.
Joseph is an award-winning dramatist and screenwriter whose plays include “The North Pool,” “Animals Out of Paper,” “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” “Guards at the Taj” and “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2010. “King James” premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre and the Center Theatre in Los Angeles in 2022, with Glenn Davis as Shawn and Chris Perfetti (“Abbott Elementary”) as Matt. Directed by Kenny Leon, the production transferred to New York City and played off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2023.
All evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. while all matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $30 with discounts available for students and groups. Tickets may be purchased online at SyracuseStage.org, by phone at 315.443.3275 or in person at the Syracuse Stage Box Office. Pay-What-You-Will performances for “King James” are Feb. 26 – March 2 inclusive; Prologue conversations, three pre-show discussions that take place one-hour before curtain on March 2, 8 and 13; the Post-show Talkback will take place on Sunday, March 9 after the 7:30 p.m. performance. Syracuse Stage has open-captioned performances scheduled for March 5 and 16 at 2 p.m. and March 11 and 15 at 7:30 p.m., as well as an audio-described performance on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. and an ASL interpreted performance on March 8 at 2 p.m. The Sensory Friendly/Relaxed performance of “King James” is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m.
In conjunction with the Syracuse University Symposium, Syracuse Stage will present a panel discussion with former Syracuse Orange athletes Eric Devendorf and Eric Jackson, moderated by former editor of ESPN.com Javier Maymi-Perez. The discussion will examine the role of sports in building community through fandom and how it can result in unexpected friendships and lasting connections. This free community event will be held on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. in the Sutton Pavillion at Syracuse Stage, before the first preview of “King James.”
Syracuse Stage is pleased to continue its Trivia Night, a new event for the 24/25 season. Free for ticket holders, Trivia Night invites audiences to go head-to-head for a chance to win exciting Syracuse Stage prizes, in a friendly competition hosted by “Jeopardy!” champion Dillon Hupp, and includes free pizza. Trivia Night for “King James” will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. performance are required to participate. Pre-registration at Syracusestage.org is recommended.
Support for the 24/25 season includes season sponsors the Slutzker Family Foundation, the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation and Advance Media New York. The community partner for “King James” is Eric Devendorf’s ED23 Hoops.
