KING JAMES Comes to Wasatch Theatre Company This Month

Wasatch Theatre Company will continue its Storefront Theatre Series with King James by Rajiv Joseph, part of our summer season, running July 12-20, 2024 at the George F. Plautz Theatre Co-Op at The Gateway.    

King James follows two friends through several years of LeBron James fandom as they navigate male friendship and the complexities of a friendship that crosses class and racial lines.  

The play makes its Utah debut at Wasatch Theatre Company, just off a successful run Off-Broadway, earning it an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Best Play.

The WTC production features Alex Jones, who most recently starred in WTC’s production of JQA in January and Nick Bianchi, who starred in 2023’s The Thanksgiving Play (another WTC production) at the co-op and later at the Regent Street Black Box.  The show is directed by WTC Executive Director Jim Martin.

Rajiv Joseph was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which starred Robin Williams min thre lead role on broadway.  Later, he won the Obie Award for his play Describe the Night.  WTC previously performed his two-person play Gruesome Playground Injuries.  

The Storefront Series is Wasatch Theatre Company’s response to the national and international Storefront scene.  There are many storefront theatres in Chicago, for example.  Storefront Theatre allows organizations to play with the dynamics of theatre in a smaller, more intimate space.  

Wasatch Theatre Company owns and runs the George F. Plautz Theatre Co-Op, which was formerly the SLC Theatre Co-Op.  The space has been renamed in honor of George Plautz, the longtime WTC Board member who passed away in 2023.  WTC opened the co-op in January 2023 as a way to network and support theatres through the Salt Lake valley and beyond.  Theatre co-ops have been more commonly used throughout the country post-pandemic as a way to sustain theatre companies who may be struggling in the wake of financial challenges since national shutdowns.  

The Storefront Theatre Series is in homage to the concept of storefront theatre that has ebbed and flowed throughout the country.  There have been storefront theatres as a fabric of the Chicago theatre scene for quite some time, although some of them have struggled since the pandemic.  The concept behind Storefront Theatre is that theatre doesn’t need formal venues to be meaningful and impactful.  Storefront Theatre has the potential to impact participants and audiences on a different, more personal and intimate level.   

Tickets for King James are available at the Wasatch Theatre Company website.  

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