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Theater buffs who enjoy stories about male camaraderie and those who understand the love-hate relationship fans have with the Cleveland Cavaliers will both find something to love at one of Albuquerque’s most diverse playhouses. King James opened at Vortex Theatre (2900 Carlisle Blvd. NE) on Valentine’s Day and will run weekends from Feb. 14 until March 9.
“It is a very important play about a strong male friendship, and we so seldom get to see that on stage or anyplace,” Leslee Richards, publicity liaison for the Vortex, says. “I don’t know whether men are loath to admit it when they really care about another guy.”
Written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Stefanie Grillo, the Vortex’s production of King James features an alternating all-local cast with Marcus Ivey and Jamey Greyson playing Shawn and Jay Hobson and Tom Ragan playing Matt.
King James premiered in March 2022 at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. The play isn’t exactly about LeBron — he isn’t an actual character with lines in the play — it’s an exploration of male friendship, particularly between a black and a white character who are equally inspired by and obsessed with LeBron. Richards says she’s familiar with Joseph’s knack for writing two-person plays that delve into “what binds people together once they decide they are friends.” Guards at the Taj, Joseph’s dramatization of a dark construction myth from the perspective of two palace guards, ran at the Vortex a couple of years back.
Also, Richards’ husband is from Cleveland, so she remembers firsthand the hype around “King” LeBron across “The Land” — a nickname for the city popularized by celebrities like James.
“I was very engaged when LeBron James came to Cleveland to play for the Cavaliers, and it was a huge, huge deal,” Richards says. “The ‘mistake on the lake,’ all of that disrespect that they got for so many years, and it’s really a lovely and fascinating and very well run city.”
Director Stephanie Grilo also has a strong personal connection to the play and its portrayal of friendship. She says she and her best friend are huge fans of Rajiv Joseph, and they got to catch King James together at The Old Globe in San Diego last year.
“I had actually directed her in a production of [Joseph’s] Gruesome Playground Injuries, which is another atypical love story, and the King James show was just incredible. We really knew that Albuquerque audiences would connect specifically with this play,” she says.
Grillo says she’s excited to see some fresh faces taking the Vortex stage for King James. Jamey Greyson, one of the actors playing Shawn, is also one of her former students at UNM. Saturday’s performance will be his first time doing a show outside of the university. She says audiences should also be excited to hear the play’s awesome soundtrack stacked with “hip-hop from the ages.”
Sundays have some extra perks during the Vortex’s run of King James. On Feb. 16 you can pay what you will for a special 2 p.m. performance, and the theater will host a Talkback with the Cast and Director Stephanie Grillo on Feb. 23.
“We are excited about bringing something really fresh and new and contemporary to the Vortex,” Grilo says. “And something that would maybe challenge some of the typical audiences because of it’s very contemporary language and this relationship between two guys — a young black man and a young white man. We don’t often see platonic love between men on stage.”
Grillo will also be directing Othello for the New Mexico Shakespeare Festival this summer.
Find tickets for King James at the Vortex (vortexabq.org).
King James
Feb. 14 through March 9
Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m
Sundays, 2 p.m.
Vortex Theatre
2900 Carlisle Blvd. NE
General Admission $24