King James at IRTStage play about two Cleveland Cavalier fans how showing. Faran Fronczak interviews the director INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A play now on stage at the Indiana Repertory Theater has a daunting task: getting audiences in the heart of Indiana Pacers territory to cheer for two Cleveland Cavaliers fans and their love of LeBron James. No worries, as “King James” has been down this road before. The two-man show debuted in 2022 in Chicago, land of the Bulls and Michael Jordan. Now it’s in Indianapolis for a four-week run. “I did not have a story about two platonic men in a just really good relationship making me ‘tear up’ on my 2025 bingo card,” Devon Ginn, IRT’s director of inclusion and community partnerships, said. “It’s moving. It’s emotional. And if you understand the concept of basketball, if you understand the basis of it, you’re going to be able to fall into the story so easy.” Jamil Jude directs the play. He described it to Daybreak’s Faran Fronczak as a “two-person comedy where we’re exploring friendship, love, loss, but most importantly, the joy of sports. Over two hours, audiences are going to just love listening to how this relationship develops. We find two friends who are an unlikely combination, more so like an odd couple at the beginning.” As far as competing basketball loyalties in audience are concerned, Jude is undaunted, pointing out that such differences are at the very heart of the play. “They’re coming from two different walks of life, two different perspectives. One’s a Jordan guy, one’s a LeBron guy. So you couldn’t be two more opposite people,” he says. “But over the course of the play, you see how they fall in and out of love in a relationship and a friendship that develops over time when LeBron leaves, when LeBron comes back, and all the emotions that are stirred up because of that. “ Jude and Ginn agree that you do not need to be a passionate hoops fanatic to enjoy it. “You don’t have to be a basketball fan, but it might be the reason you become converted to one,” Ginn says. Jude says he hopes people will enjoy the work of the two talented actors who play ther roles, and that their work inspires audience members to action. “I want people to know and just check in with their friends. Theater is a political act, and it wants you to move towards social action. And at the end of this, I hope that you call a friend that you haven’t talked to in a long time. I hope you call your parents just to check in with them. And, also, I hope that you cheer on your local sports team and go to the theater a lot more.” King James runs until Feb. 9 at the Indiana Repertory Theater. Times and tickets are available here.