King James - Theaterworks Hartford

The exploration of male friendship and bonding over 12 years is the basis for Rajiv Joseph’s two-person play, King James.  This is James, as in LeBron James.  The show begins in 2004, the soon-to-be iconic player’s rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team.  Matt (Gregory Perri), the owner of a wine bar, is seeking to unload the remainder of his season tickets for the Cavs due to money issues.  In walks Shawn (George Anthony Richardson), who a friend-of-a-friend told him about the available tickets.  The two talk (about basketball and other matters), bicker, and wrangle until a sale is finally made.  More importantly, a friendship begins to bloom.  Throughout the next three scenes, all pegged to significant dates of recent Cavalier history – 2010, when James left for the Miami Heat; 2014, when he returned to Cleveland; and 2016, when the Cavs won the NBA championship – the two men continue to talk basketball, but also delve into their personal and professional lives.  Along their journey together there is anger, betrayal, mistrust and misunderstanding leavened with a true affection for each other.

Gregory Perri and George Anthony Richardson in King James.  Photo by Mike Marques.

With any play featuring just two characters, the playwright needs to inject enough drama or bumps in the road to keep audiences engaged.  Joseph partly succeeds with this task, but the there is a lot of lag time in-between the crucial moments of the show.  Interestingly, after spending two hours with Matt and Shawn, I still did not feel I knew enough about them.  In addition, with all the angst and separation the two experience with one another, the final scene comes across as a trifle insincere.

 

Both actors are animated and bring a real-world essence to their roles.  These are just two ordinary, somewhat lonely guys, that meet and slowly bond.  Gregory Perri (Matt) and George Anthony Richardson (Shawn) are fully invested in their roles as they seek to develop into more well-rounded characters.  It’s when they break free from the confines of the back-and-forth dialogue that their performances shine, most notably during the final quarter of the play.

Gregory Perri and George Anthony Richardson in King James.  Photo by Mike Marques.

Director Rob Ruggiero does his best to infuse movement and action into the production.  His staging shines when he brings out both the friskiness and heated confrontations of the two characters.  He, almost imperceptibly, incorporates changes in dress and, especially, cellphone technology that takes place over the 12-year period.  This is enhanced by Sound Designer Kevin L. Alexander’s playful, evolving ringtones.  Luke Cantarella’s richly detailed set designs – the wine bar and the interior of a curiosity shop – are impressively rendered.

 

Kings James, playing through March 2.  Click here for information on dates, times, and ticket information.

Eden - Yale Repertory Theatre

Eden, receiving a superb staging at the Yale Repertory Theatre, is a tense, forceful family drama. The 1976 work by playwright Steve Carter, the first of his Caribbean trilogy, is set in 1927 and explores the racial conflict between Blacks from the West Indies and African-Americans, most notably from the south, in the San Juan neighborhood of New York City’s Upper Westside (now the home of Lincoln Center). 

Members of the cast in a scene from Eden, a play by Steve Carter, directed by Brandon J. Dirden. Yale Repertory Theatre, January 16-February 8, 2025. Photo © Joan Marcus.

The Barton family, immigrants from the Caribbean, is led by the exacting and rigid patriarch Joseph (Russell G. Jones).  His dictates are unquestioningly followed by his deferential wife Florie (Christina Acosta Robinson) and their four children.  The eldest, Agnes (Alicia Pilgrim), intelligent and practical, is seeking to become a private secretary. Annetta (Lauren F. Walker), 18-years-old, is more housekeeper than young adult.  Rounding out the family are the two younger teenage sons, Nimrod (Juice Mackins) and Solomon (Prentiss Patrick-Carter).

 

The central conflict revolves around next door neighbor Eustace Baylor’s (Chaundre Hall-Broomfield) amorous advances on Annetta, which she flirtatiously reciprocates.  The young man, uneducated and from the South is, in the eyes of Joseph Barton, an unworthy suitor.  This scenario sets up an ongoing clash where youthful passions, pitted against a changing world, have dire and unexpected consequences. 

Christina Acosta Robinson and Russell G. Jones in a scene from Eden, a play by Steve Carter, directed by Brandon J. Dirden. Yale Repertory Theatre, January 16-February 8, 2025. Photo © Joan Marcus.

Carter has fashioned a tight, well-plotted play with fully-developed characters and an intensity that can leave the audience breathless.  The show incorporates a number of significant issues, including race relations, assimilation, family and generational struggles, and cultural clashes that unfold organically throughout the production.

Lauren F. Walker and Chaundre Hall-Broomfield in a scene from Eden, a play by Steve Carter, directed by Brandon J. Dirden. Yale Repertory Theatre, January 16-February 8, 2025. Photo © Joan Marcus.

The cast is led by Russell G. Jones as Mr. Joseph Barton.  The actor is riveting as the fervent, uncompromising head of the household.  Christina Acosta Robinson imbues Florie with a muted determination and inner fortitude.  Alicia Pilgrim infuses her character of Agnes with no-nonsense acumen that provides a balance to the turmoil swirling around the Barton family.   Lauren F. Walker gives a top-notch performance in her role of Annetta.  She deftly juggles the emotions and responsibilities of a young woman coming of age within a dysfunctional family and uncertain times.  Chaundre Hall-Broomfield gives a layered, subtle, but determined rendering in his role as Eustace.  Heather Alicia-Simms is marvelous as Lizzie Harris, aunt of Eustace.  She is sensible, world-weary and provides well-placed comedic moments.  Juice Mackins (Nimrod) and Prentiss Patrick-Carter (Solomon) are effective in their small, but integral roles.

Christina Acosta Robinson and Heather Alicia Simms in a scene from Eden, a play by Steve Carter, directed by Brandon J. Dirden. Yale Repertory Theatre, January 16-February 8, 2025. Photo © Joan Marcus.

Under Director Brandon J. Dirden’s sturdy and penetrating guidance, the show crackles at a steadfast pace on George Zhou’s multi-level set.  Ankit Pandey’s Lighting Design is at its most dramatic at the ends of Act I and II.  Tojo Rasedoara provides absorbing interludes of original music.

 

Eden, a show not to miss, playing at the Yale Repertory Theatre though February 8.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.

Cult of Love - Broadway

In playwright Leslye Headland’s sometimes scorching, often very funny comedy/drama, Cult of Love, we are introduced to the Dahl clan on Christmas Eve.  Parents Ginny and Bill reside in bucolic Connecticut.  Their home is decked out for the holiday (courtesy of John Lee Beatty’s festive set).  As per tradition, they have welcomed their now grown-up children, and their significant other’s for the holiday gathering.  While the setting appears joyful and merry – the show opens with instruments strumming, piano keys jangling, all accompanied by a family sing-a-long (kudos to Musical Supervisor Jacinth Greywoode) – the harmonious state is a mirage.  The Dahl’s have…issues.  Significant issues. 

Mom (Mare Winningham), who brought up her children in a strict Christian home, is righteous and controlling.  Dad (David Rasche), potentially in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, is lovingly affable, but forgetful. The eldest son Mark (Zachary Quinto), who left divinity school to become a lawyer, is adrift in his career and marriage to Rachel (Molly Bernard).  There is daughter Evie (Rebecca Henderson) and her wife Pippa (Roberta Colindrez), who have never been truly accepted by members of the family.  Diana (Shailene Woodley), married to James (Christopher Lowell), an Episcopalian minister, spews hurtful and intolerant invectives.  Then there’s the youngest, Johnny (Christopher Sears), a former drug abuser and free-spirit in recovery, who arrives with Loren (Barbie Ferreira), also a one-time drug user.

 

Ms. Headland has taken these dysfunctional family dynamics and laced together a show that flows effectively from one eye-opening scene to another.  Just when audience members have absorbed one revelatory incident, another portentous moment arrives.  She has taken issues of homophobia and religious intolerance and deftly woven them into the plot without coming across as preachy or contrived. 

 

Director Trip Cullman has skillfully taken the large cast and presented the action as real and naturalistic.  The overlapping dialogue and apparent spontaneity of the actors gives the production an authentic feel.  He keenly utilizes the upstairs of the house and the kitchen as a refuge for characters to regroup before coming back on to the stage for another round of confrontations. 

 

The ensemble cast is outstanding.  Each of the actors and actresses flawlessly execute their roles.  Their performances encompass all the emotions – the highs and lows – that holiday get-togethers can have on family members in close quarters and with a lifetime of baggage.

 

Cult of Love, playing at 2ndStage through February 2, 2025.