Show Sponsored by Harry’s on the Hill
Directed by Charlie Flynn-McIver
“King” LeBron James’s years playing in Cleveland bring promise to a city in desperate need. His tenure also unites Shawn and Matt in an unlikely bond forged by fandom. Over twelve years the men navigate their turbulent friendship through their shared love of basketball—and the endless amiable arguments that erupt from that love.
“One of the funniest and most moving plays
about friendship in years”
–TheaterMania
About the Playwright
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. Rajiv’s New York productions include Animals Out Of Paper (Second Stage Theatre, summer 2008), the leopard and the Fox (alter ego, fall 2007), Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre, 2006), and all This Intimacy (Second Stage Theatre, 2006). In Los Angeles Huck & Holden was produced by the Black Dahlia Theatre in 2006. 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.
Meet the Cast and Production Team
ONSTAGE
Shawn: Philip Kershaw*
Matt: Ken Sandberg*
(click the image above to learn more!)
OFFSTAGE
Director: Charlie Flynn-McIver
Production Stage Manager: Lindsey A. Moss*
Assistant Stage Manager: Emily Grimes
Scenic Design: Michael Amico
Lighting Design: CJ Barnwell
Costume Design: Madisyn Craig
Props Artist: Sylvia J. Pierce
*denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association
This show is part of the 2025 Asheville Amadeus Festival!
