QUEEN Comes to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati This Month

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) kicks off the new year with the regional premiere drama Queen by award-winning playwright Madhuri Shekar. A new play that's created quite a buzz, Queen is a provocative portrayal of brilliant women confronting inconvenient truths. This high-stakes story of integrity, bioethics, friendship, and the survival of bee populations comes to the ETC stage February 19-March 19, 2022. Directed by Bridget Leak.

PhD candidates Sanam and Ariel have spent the better part of the last decade exhaustively researching vanishing bee populations across the globe. Just as these close friends are about to publish a career-defining paper, Sanam stumbles upon an error in their calculations, which could cause catastrophic damage to their reputations, careers, and friendship. Now, Sanam is confronted with an impossible choice: look the other way or stand by her principles and accept the consequences?

"It was very important to me to do a play not only about the ethics of science and academia, but also ethics in honesty. Not only does Queen combine these ideas, but it does so in a very personal way," says Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. "Queen shows audiences that every decision we make should be an ethical one. Whether we're fighting COVID-19, or we're fighting to save our planet, or we're fighting to do what is true to ourselves, ethics is import. I hope we can look at this play as a community to celebrate the important mission we need to undertake to save the bees and our world."

ETC requires all patrons and visitors to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test certification and to wear face masks at all times while on the premises. For full health and safety policy information, visit our website at www.ensemblecincinnati.org/health-safety.

Ryan Wesley Gilreath (Dr. Philip Hayes) finished his eighth year playing Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol with Playhouse in the Park. He was seen in the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron, and in The Food that Built America for The History Channel. His other TV and film credits include TURN: Washington's Spies, AMC American Genius, National Geographic; Gold Fever, Discovery Channel; and the pilot Guilty (opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr.), Fox. His theatre credits include Burning Desire (alongside Lou Diamond Phillips), Seven Angels Theatre; Ripcord, Tribes, Other Desert Cities, Next Fall, 33 Variations, and Mary's Wedding, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati; the national tour of Echoes of Ireland, Ears on a Beatle, Human Race Theatre; and Deathtrap, Florida Repertory Theatre.

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Saiyam Kumar (Arvind Patel) makes his Ensemble Theatre debut with this production. Saiyam is a graduate of NYU and an actor based in New York City. He's appeared on several television shows such as The Sinner, Blue Bloods, FBI: Most Wanted, and The Hunt with John Walsh and has worked on many short films. Saiyam is also a dancer with a background in hip-hop, Bollywood fusion, and bhangra. He's passionate about diverse storytelling that highlights the voices of immigrants and people of color.

Gauravi Shah (Sanam Shah) make her Ensemble Theatre debut with this production. She is an engineer, improviser, and sketch comedienne from Toronto, Canada. Gauravi graduated from the Second City Conservatory, directed Elfish, It is a Holiday Show, and Hot Mic: Cincinnati's Improvised Musical for Improv Cincinnati, and recently directed Troof & Sketchconciliation as part of an ArtsWave diversity grant. She is passionate about amplifying minority voices and aims to do that through inclusion efforts within the Cincinnati comedy and theatre communities.

Jordan Trovillion (Ariel Spiegel) is an actor based in Covington, Kentucky-the endpoint of her southerly drift from her home state of Michigan. Her recent theatre credits include All's Faire (Johnson) and The Absentee (The Operator) with Know Theatre of Cincinnati and You Will Live Under the Sea with Queen City Flash at the 2021 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Some of her favorite credits include Puffs (Susie Bones track), Know Theatre; Zoinks! (Nolan), Queen City Flash; and Baskerville (Actress), Falcon Theater. Jordan is a member of SAG/AFTRA and has performed in various films and television shows, such as The Old Man and the Gun, My Days of Mercy, and Comedy Central's Detroiters.

Production team: Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic and Lighting Designer), Niki Hernandez-Adams (Costume Designer), Matt Callahan (Sound Designer), Sam Womelsdorf (Projection Designer), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Matthew Hollstegge (Production Manager), and Jack Murphy (Technical Director). Production Stage Manager is Margot Whitney. Assistant Stage Manager is Lexi Muller.

Performances Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 pm; Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm; Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 pm. Performances vary. A complete calendar of performances is available www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

Tickets start at $35 for adults; student tickets are $28; and children are $24. Half-Price Rush Tickets: All remaining tickets for the current day's performance(s) are available two hours prior to each show time for half-price (discount only applies to adult tickets) when purchasing by phone or in person. $15 Student Rush Tickets: Students may purchase up to two $15 student rush tickets two hours prior to show time with valid student I.D. Available in person only.

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