Writer: Rajiv Joseph
Director: Alice Hamilton
Supporting a sports team can be a precarious business, made up of soaring highs and dismal lows. Very much like most of our lives in relationships, perhaps. American writer Rajiv Joseph’s short four-scene play matches up the fluctuations in the fortunes of an American professional Basketball team with the ups and downs in a friendship between two young men, both supporters, over a period of several years.
In his earlier play, Guards at the Taj, Joseph explored the intricacies of male bonding. Here, the time and the setting are very different, but the essential themes remain the same. In Cleveland, Ohio, Matt (Sam Mitchell) and Shawn (Enyi Okoronkwo) are brought together by their shared love for the Cavaliers (“Cavs”). Matt is raising quick cash by selling his ailing father’s pair of season tickets, Shawn has a windfall from selling a short story and is the potential buyer. But who will he take with him to the matches?
The lads’ “King” is star player LeBron James. They feel the pain of his treachery when he leaves the Cavs for Miami, and they embrace the ecstasy of his triumphant return. His success becomes a symbol of how great things can emerge from humble beginnings, and he inspires them as they strive to win through in their own lives. Shawn moves to New York and then Los Angeles, while Matt remains rooted in Cleveland, the pair fall out and make up, but, for both, the draw of friendship and the Cavs remains constant.
The quick-fire exchanges give director Alice Hamilton’s perfectly pitched production the feel of a David Mamet piece. It seems remarkable that these young British actors are able to master the pace and rhythm of Joseph’s dialogue with such consummate skill, but their sensitive performances also delve deep into the hearts of their characters. A minor gripe – a play that runs briskly for around 80 minutes is extended to 100 minutes by the intrusion of an interval; a set change explains this, but it does not justify the disruption to the play’s flow.
The finer points of American Basketball may fox many in audiences at Hampstead, but what should be crystal clear to all are the razor-sharp quality of Joseph’s writing and the absolute precision of the two performances.
Runs until 4 January 2025
The Reviews Hub Score
A triumphant reign
