Rajiv Joseph’s play-within-a-play, King James, follows two Cleveland Cavaliers supporters Matt and Shawn as their story intersects with the career of one of basketball’s greatest ever players, LeBrone James.
Directed by Alice Hamilton, the two-hander stars Enyi Okoronkwo as Shawn and Sam Mitchell as Matt and has already garnered rave reactions, including a four-star in The Stage.
We caught up with Okoronkwo to find out more about the play and what it’s like to be returning to Hampstead Theatre where he performed in The Haystack back in 2020.
Q&A with Ényì Okoronkwo
How does it feel to be returning to Hampstead Theatre to star in King James?
It feels wonderful to return Hampstead if not bittersweet, the last time I was here to do a play was The Haystack by the wonderful Al Blyth who has recently passed so I have been thinking about his wonderful presence a lot.
What can you tell us about the production and what attracted you to the play?
It’s a wonderful production directed by Alice Hamilton about two Cleveland natives and their love for Lebron James and how they change over more than a decade. In many ways it’s about basketball but really it is anchored by the relationship between these two young men over time. Rajiv is such a sensitive writer and it was really the words that attracted me to the production – I couldn’t stop reading it when I started. Hopefully we meet its beauty!
How have you approached Shawn as a character?
Good writing is really instructional so approaching Shawn was really about constantly re-reading the play. And definitely watching some basketball! But like I said it’s definitely in the words so it’s more about absorbing the text. I have an audio file that I have listened to almost every day. Hopefully I’m still finding different sides to him during the run.
You’ve also appeared on television in Renegade Nell – how do stage and screen compare?
I guess there’s just less distance between the audience and your work on stage. It’s also a useful reminder that artists really don’t own their art… a play really belongs to the audience that sees it that night or afternoon so, yeah, it’s a good reminder that what we do should really be about sharing and service rather than status or ego.
Is there anything you hope audiences take away from King James?
Not really…I’m just incredibly excited to find out, together with them, what this play is about! And I’m sure that will change from audience to audience.
