Photos: First Look at QUEEN at Ensemble Theatre

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati 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 22-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.

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.

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Direction of a Musical - Top 3

1. Michael Arden - The Lost Boys

24.8% of votes

2. Michael Mayer - Chess

14.6% of votes

3. Lear deBessonet - Ragtime

11.7% of votes

Vote Now! View Live Stats