Just in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite sports-themed shows! From all-American baseball stories to exciting takes on team dynamics, these plays offer a unique perspective on human resilience, teamwork, and the quest for greatness.
Flex by Candrice Jones
The pressure is on for the 1998 Lady Train high school basketball team—on top of a battle to bring home the championship trophy, it is also college scouting season. But the team’s performance is tested as it ruptures under the weight of its infighting, and the once-tight players begin to focus on their futures. What does it mean to be a Black girl on the brink of freedom and womanhood in a small town in the South? Does honoring your own wants mean sacrificing your friends, family, and team? This funny and frank play about getting a full-court press from life will have audiences cheering.
King James by Rajiv Joseph
“King” LeBron James’s years playing in Cleveland bring promise, prosperity, and renewal to a city in desperate need of all three. His tenure also unites Shawn and Matt in an unlikely bond forged by fandom. Over twelve years, from LeBron’s rookie season to an NBA Championship, the men navigate their turbulent friendship through their shared love of basketball—and the endless amiable arguments that erupt from that love. A clever comedy, King James is an intimate exploration of the place that sports occupy in our lives and relationships.
Photo by Sara Krulwich, 2022 Broadway production
Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg
Darren Lemming, the star center fielder of the world champion New York Empires, is young, rich, famous, talented, handsome and so convinced of his popularity that when he casually announces he’s gay, he assumes the news will be readily accepted by everyone. It isn’t. Friends, fans and teammates react with ambivalence, and when the slipping Empires call up the young phenom Shane Mungitt to close their games, the ambivalence turns to violence. Angry, lonely, guilt-ridden and confused, Darren finds some unlikely solace in the form of friendship with his new business manager, Mason Marzac—a brilliant but repressed guy, who, as everyone around him copes with disenchantment, blooms in the ecstatic discovery of baseball.
Recipient of the 2003 Tony Award® for Best Play
Photo by Johan Persson, 2024 Orange Tree Theatre production
Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath
Ray’s swum his way to the eve of the Olympic trials. If he makes the team, he’ll get a deal with Speedo. If he gets a deal with Speedo, he’ll never need a real job. So when someone’s stash of performance-enhancing drugs is found in the locker room fridge, threatening the entire team’s Olympic fate, Ray has to crush the rumors or risk losing everything. A sharp and stylish play about swimming, survival of the fittest, and the American dream of a level playing field—or of leveling the field yourself.
Sara Krulwich, 2007 Music Box Theater production
Deuce by Terrence McNally
Warmly funny and unexpectedly touching, Deuce tells the story of retired tennis stars Leona Mullen and Midge Barker, who once made up a championship doubles team. When they meet again at the U.S. Open, the women—now at the end of their lives—find themselves trying to make sense of the professional partnership that brought them to the top of the sports world in their youth.
Tight End by Rachel Bykowski
Ash (believe me, you do not want to call her “Ashley”) Miller’s dream is to catch the winning touchdown pass for the Westmont High Titans’ Homecoming game. Football is in her blood. In order to make the team, Ash will have to prove she is one of the guys, even if that means sacrificing her body for the love of the game.
Man in the Ring by Michael Cristofer
As he slips into dementia, Emile Griffith tries to make sense of his life’s journey from a Caribbean émigré who only wanted to sing and play baseball to becoming the six-time world-champion boxer, and the single event that overshadowed his entire life. On national television, in the twelfth round of a championship fight, taunted for his sexuality, Emile pummeled his opponent into a coma from which the man never recovered. A true story driven by tragedy becomes a triumphant tale of forgiveness and redemption.
The Last Match by Anna Zielger
Played out under the bright lights of the US Open semifinals, The Last Match pits rising Russian star Sergei Sergeyev against American great Tim Porter in an epic showdown that follows two tennis titans through pivotal moments in their lives both on and off the court. This gripping, fast-paced story captures the intense world of competitive sports, and human rivalry, and what it means to want something—and the lengths we will go to in order to feel relevant, important, and young.
2018 Riverside Theatre production
Lombardi by Eric Simonson
Sport produces great human drama and there is no greater sports icon to bring to theatrical life than Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi, unquestionably one of the most inspirational and quotable personalities of all time. Though football’s Super Bowl trophy is named for him, few know the real story of Lombardi the man—his inspirations, his passions and ability to drive people to achieve what they never thought possible. This play is part of Simonson’s sports trilogy which also includes Bronx Bombers and Magic/Bird.
National Pastime by Bryan Harnetiaux
National Pastime follows the journeys of Jackie Robinson, the first black player in major league baseball, and Wesley Branch Rickey, the white President and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, as they shatter the color barrier in 1947. While offering insight into each man’s personal struggles, the play traces the evolution of race relations leading up to the Civil Rights Movement. Against all odds, Robinson and Rickey join forces to bring about a benchmark cultural event in America’s history. (Note that this full-length play includes the short play, 215 Montague Street, which can be performed and licensed separately.)
Squad Goals by Don Zolidis
The crackpot coaches of a ragtag basketball team are looking for one more player, but if inspirational sports movies have taught us anything, it’s that winners don’t need to have superior talent–just the most heart. So these tryouts will test the hopefuls on the really important things: playing through an injury, giving a thrilling halftime speech, and, of course, moving exceptionally well in slow-motion to dramatic music. Scoring on the absurd cliches in every sports movie from Rudy to Air Bud, Squad Goals is a hilarious slam-dunk.
Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia, 2013 New York Musical Theater Festival production
Volleygirls by Rob Ackerman
The pressure is on for the down-and-out Saint Agnes girls’ volleyball team to defeat their biggest rival and to save their coach’s job. But with a limited number of players, a string of losses, an awkward confrontation with an angry parent, and two of the girls about to come to blows over a boy, things are looking rather grim. As their coach confronts his own nagging case of “loseritis,” the girls learn to work together, hatching a plan to turn their season around and learning to conquer any challenge thrown their way, on or off the court. Lively and heartfelt, Volleygirls captures the spirit and passion of everything you love about team sports.
All-American by Julia Brownell
All-American is the story of a modern American family: suburban dad and former NFL star Mike Slattery works hard to make his daughter, Katie, the star quarterback at her new school while ignoring her brainy twin brother, Aaron. But Katie isn’t sure she wants to keep playing, and Mike’s wife, Beth, isn’t sure she wants to keep playing along.
