Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre-Media Centre
"Joseph has created one of the funniest and most moving plays about friendship in years” – TheaterMania

A fast-paced comedy about fandom turning to friendship, dealing with life’s unexpected bounces and living in a scrappy city that loves to play the underdog.

When Matt is forced to sell his Cleveland Cavaliers season tickets, it hurts. He’s been a lifelong fan and the team is finally showing promise thanks to rising superstar LeBron ‘King’ James. But Matt gets a lucky break when he bonds with the guy who buys his tickets. Not just for basketball fans, King James is a slam dunk for anyone who loves a funny, contemporary story about the deep bonds that enrich our lives.
 

Click on the image to download the digital program:

Ovation4Cover.jpg

EnrichmentGuide.jpg
 

Warnings: 
Strong language, mature themes

 


Sponsored by:                  
The Asper Foundation
Tom Hendry Warehouse Season Sponsor:
BMO


Cast & Crew

Production
Rajiv Joseph photo
Rajiv Joseph

Playwright

Playwright Rajiv Joseph
Rajiv Joseph photo

Rajiv Joseph

Rajiv Joseph’s play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo has been awarded a grant for Outstanding New American Play by the National Endowment for the Arts. His other plays include Animals Out of Paper (Second Stage Theatre), The Leopard and the Fox (Alter Ego), Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre, The Black Dahlia Theatre) and All This Intimacy (Second Stage Theatre). Through the Lark Play Development Center, Rajiv has travelled to Mexico and Romania, where Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was translated into Spanish and Romanian, respectively, and performed in staged readings. Rajiv has been awarded the Paula Vogel Award by the Vineyard Theatre and the 2009 Kesselring Fellowship. Rajiv is a Founding Member of the New York-based theatre company The Fire Department and was a contributing writer on their first two theatrical events, Speakeasy and At War: American Playwrights Respond to the War in Iraq. He is a former Lark Playwriting Fellow and Dramatists Guild Fellow. His plays have been published by Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service and Smith & Kraus. He received his B.A. in Creative Writing from Miami University and his M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and he is currently a Language Lecturer at NYU with the School of Art and Public Policy and the Expository Writing Program. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa.


 

Ray Strachan photo
Ray Strachan

Director

Director Ray Strachan
Ray Strachan photo

Ray Strachan

ROYAL MTC Actor: The Play That Goes Wrong, The Mountaintop, Into the Woods, The Three Musketeers, Calpurnia (with NAC/Black Theatre Workshop), It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Shakespeare in Love (with Citadel), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Romeo and Juliet, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (with TC).

OTHER THEATRE Director: The Velveteen Rabbit (MTYP); Hedda Gabler (Echo Theatre). Actor: Feast (PTE); The Prom (Dry Cold); The Tempest (Citadel); Deserter, Remember the Night (Moving Target); The Whipping Man (WJT); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Black Hole Theatre).

FILM/TV The Porter (CBC Gem/BET); Violent Night, Vandits, Don’t F*** With Ghosts.

ET CETERA Dedicated to my Dad. Much of the evolution of our relationship as Father and Son, but also as best friends, happened in 3-4 hour chunks at Winnipeg Stadium, and I bring so much of that to this play. Love you.

Shauna Jones photo
Shauna Jones

Set Designer

Set Designer Shauna Jones
Shauna Jones photo

Shauna Jones

ROYAL MTC Set Designer: The Piano Teacher. Costume Designer: Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes. Assistant Set Designer: Calpurnia (with NAC/Black Theatre Workshop), The (Post) Mistress, Women of the Fur Trade, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.

OTHER THEATRE Tuesdays with Morrie (WJT); Dogtown (Yukon Arts Centre); Frozen River (MTYP); Much Ado About Nothing; The Winter’s Tale / Le conte d’hiver (SIR/TCM); Lawrence and Holloman, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Guild Hall – Whitehorse, YT).

TRAINING Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Practicum program (2019).

ET CETERA Shauna is a member of the ADC (Associated Designers of Canada).

Ksenia Broda-Milian photo
Ksenia Broda-Milian

Costume Designer

Costume Designer Ksenia Broda-Milian
Ksenia Broda-Milian photo

Ksenia Broda-Milian

ROYAL MTC Costume Designer: Yaga. Assistant Designer: As You Like It, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical. Design Apprentice: The Seagull, Cabaret, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily. 2020/21 National Mentorship Program. Design team member on MTC/MBA Lawyers Plays: Mamma Mia! and Urinetown

OTHER THEATRE Selected recent: set, costume and/or lighting designs: Address Unknown (WJT); Yaga (Belfry); None of this is Happening (TPM); The Velveteen Rabbit (MTYP); Much Ado (SIR); Katharsis (PTE); It’s a Wonderful Life (Magnus); Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Cash (Rainbow). Upcoming: Canadian premiere of The Band’s Visit (WJT).

TRAINING/TEACHING Training: University of Winnipeg (BAH), University of Alberta (MFA), Pratt Institute, Banff Centre. Teaching: Creative Manitoba, Musical Stage Co., U of W, MTYP, Theatre Alberta’s Artstrek.

ET CETERA Ksenia is Royal MTC’s Education and Enrichment Manager, a Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification Professional, and ADC659 member. Grateful for support of my parents and friends (love you!).

Hugh Conacher photo
Hugh Conacher

Lighting Designer

Lighting Designer Hugh Conacher
Hugh Conacher photo

Hugh Conacher

ROYAL MTC (selected) Lighting & Video Designer: The Lehman Trilogy, The Mountaintop, Vietgone, Venus in Fur. Video Designer: Network (with Citadel). Lighting Designer: Little Women, The Recipe (with TPM), among men (with TPM), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (with Segal), The Secret to Good Tea, Into the Woods, New, Orlando, Women of the Fur Trade, Fun Home, The Color Purple (with Citadel), Kill Me Now (with NAC), Seminar (with Mirvish), Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and many other productions since the ‘80s.

OTHER THEATRE Hugh collaborates with choreographers, visual artists and dance and theatre companies worldwide.

ET CETERA Hugh enjoys working beyond the constraints of traditional lighting design using various forms of interactive media, video and photography. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published worldwide. Hugh is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and L’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec. www.pellucid.me.

Kevin Ramberran photo
Kevin Ramberran

Sound Designer

Sound Designer Kevin Ramberran
Kevin Ramberran photo

Kevin Ramberran

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Club Soda Improv continuously since 2017; The Antipodes, All My Sons (The 28th Minute).

TRAINING/TEACHING Kevin is a graduate and was previously a Teaching Assistant for the University of Manitoba Theatre Department and the Black Hole Theatre Company.

ET CETERA Kevin was once a hip-hop musician who made music under the alias KayR. He also hosts two improv comedy podcasts: Oops All Segments and What We Do in the Basement. Look out for his upcoming production of A Streetcar Named Desire with The 28th Minute.

Key Caguioa photo
Key Caguioa

Apprentice Director

Apprentice Director Key Caguioa
Key Caguioa photo

Key Caguioa

ROYAL MTC Apprentice Stage Manager: The Mountaintop.

OTHER THEATRE Stage Management: MA-BUHAY! A New Musical (Rainbow); Art Holm Series 9 (Art Holm); Macbeth (Black Hole Theatre Co.); MA-BUHAY! The Road to Rainbow Stage (Winnipeg Fringe). Directing: The Theory of Everything (Black Hole Theatre Co.). Misc: Tuesdays with Morrie (WJT); The Prom (Dry Cold).

TV Maria and the Mennos (YesTV).

ET CETERA Key is also the Associate Producer at Theatre Projects Manitoba. (Hi, team!) Special thanks to Robbie.

Ridge Romanishen photo
Ridge Romanishen

Stage Manager

Stage Manager Ridge Romanishen
Ridge Romanishen photo

Ridge Romanishen

ROYAL MTC SM: among men (with TPM). ASM: Little Women, The Comeback. Apprentice SM: Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, The Three Musketeers, Calpurnia. 

OTHER THEATRE PSM: Trigger Warning: Cassandra (Sick + Twisted). SM: Iago Speaks, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Will (SIR); Narnia (Bad Hats Theatre/MTYP); A Pickle (WJT); The Velveteen Rabbit (MTYP); The Marriage of Figaro (Manitoba Underground Opera). ASM: Bed & Breakfast (Capitol Theatre/PTE); Mary Poppins (Rainbow Stage); Feast (PTE). Apprentice SM: Narrow Bridge, The Golem’s Mighty Swing (WJT); Kiss of the Spider Woman (Dry Cold).

TRAINING Ridge is a Graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s Theatre and Film Program with Honours in Stage Management.

ET CETERA Ridge is thrilled to be back working with Royal MTC this season. He would like to thank all his friends, family and husband for their support and, of course, the fabulous folks at Royal MTC for another amazing opportunity to create live theatre in their home again!

Jazz Marcelino photo
Jazz Marcelino

Assistant Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager Jazz Marcelino
Jazz Marcelino photo

Jazz Marcelino

ROYAL MTC Apprentice Stage Manager: among men (with TPM), Clue (with Grand), Burning Mom, Assassinating Thomson (tour).

OTHER THEATRE (selected): Tuesdays with Morrie (WJT); Ma-Buhay! A New Musical (Rainbow); Othello (Beau/Raven/Echo); Agency (Sarasvàti); Stephen Hopwood Is Not Dead (Pengwin Production); True Blue (Cagey Productions). Stage Management Apprenticeships (selected): RENT, The Hockey Sweater: A Musical (Rainbow); La Cenerentola (MB Opera).

FILM Second Wardrobe Assistant: Alter Boys (Farpoint Films).

TRAINING Graduate of University of Winnipeg – Bachelor of Arts in Production and Stage Management in Theatre and Film Production.

ET CETERA Hope you enjoy the show! :)

Cast
Justin Fry photo
Justin Fry

Matt

Matt Justin Fry
Justin Fry photo

Justin Fry

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Once a Dream, Eden, Halo (Tara Players); Assistance (Hot Rejects); The Antipodes, All My Sons, Confessional, The Collector, Tape, Lobby Hero, Orphans (The 28th Minute); The Play That Goes Wrong (Prairie Players); Mary’s Wedding (TPM); Nothing Sacred, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The House of Blue Leaves, The Harmfulness of Tobacco, No Why, The Bald Soprano (Black Hole Theatre); For Tea and Country (Naughty Sailboat).

FILM/TV Macbeth (SIR); Gruman Goes South (Ferguson Ritchie Productions).

TRAINING Graduate of the University of Manitoba Theatre Program.

ET CETERA Justin is honoured to be making his Royal MTC debut in a production that combines his two great passions: theatre and sport. You can catch him again in The 28th Minute’s upcoming June production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Enjoy the show!

Eric Miracle photo
Eric Miracle

Shawn

Shawn Eric Miracle
Eric Miracle photo

Eric Miracle

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Middletown, Metamorphoses, Sycophant (NTS).

FILM/TV Saint Pierre (CBC); Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (CBS/Paramount+).

TRAINING Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada (2023).

ET CETERA All the love to my family and friends.

Loading ticket information
Production ID: 33857
Start Date: 3/5/2025 3:22:54 PM
End Date: 3/22/2025 3:23:07 PM
Title: King James
Playwright: By Rajiv Joseph
Billing: Directed by Ray Strachan
Warnings: Strong language, mature themes
Synopsis: "Joseph has created one of the funniest and most moving plays about friendship in years” – TheaterMania

A fast-paced comedy about fandom turning to friendship, dealing with life’s unexpected bounces and living in a scrappy city that loves to play the underdog.

When Matt is forced to sell his Cleveland Cavaliers season tickets, it hurts. He’s been a lifelong fan and the team is finally showing promise thanks to rising superstar LeBron ‘King’ James. But Matt gets a lucky break when he bonds with the guy who buys his tickets. Not just for basketball fans, King James is a slam dunk for anyone who loves a funny, contemporary story about the deep bonds that enrich our lives.
 

Click on the image to download the digital program:

Ovation4Cover.jpg

EnrichmentGuide.jpg
 

Facility: Tom Hendry Warehouse
Alternate URL: https://royalmtc.ca/Current-Plays/King-James.aspx
Play Image:
Word Mark: 320bcfe0-796a-4bb2-97d8-35c3792b2d54
Rotator Image: f364f590-81c9-4484-916d-1e1941aeb3cc
Display Rotator From: 2/15/2025 10:30:00 PM
Display Rotator To: 3/22/2025 11:59:00 PM
 

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