Fit for a Queen
$15.00 – $15.95
Description
Inspired by the life of Hatshepsut, a woman who ruled as a pharaoh in ancient Egypt. Under the guidance of Senenmut, her female lover, Hatshepsut usurps the throne from her son-in-law, Thutmose III. Full of intrigue, farce, and sexual politics, FIT FOR A QUEEN is a tragicomedy of epic proportions with a modern sensibility.
Production Info
Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
Multiple Sets
Period Costumes
Press Quotes
“Plenty of glamorous backstabbing, diva dissing and sexual double-crossing … has every right to claim the name Dynasty for itself. But the title character in Betty Shamieh’s bouncy, bumpy comic melodrama is the real thing. A queen, I mean, and not just of the self-dramatizing type. Scratch that. She’s more than a queen. She’s a pharaoh, one Hatshepsut, who reigned over Egypt for 20 odd years in the 15th century BC, and the distinction is important in a time when women rarely ruled, at least not officially. (Ancient days, huh?) A subversive speculation on the nature of power.” —Ben Brantley, The New York Times
“Funny, both witty — Shamieh’s sharp-tongued women lacerate one another and their shared opponents — and farcical. FIT FOR A QUEEN may have attracted attention due to its election-season parallels … but it’s Senenmut who is [Shamieh’s] favorite kind of antihero: the oppressed subject who refuses to play angel, the recipient of horrors who manages to deliver some horrors of her own. She’s bundled contradictions, as the best-written characters always are: power-hungry but empathetic; hardened through experience but naive enough to be betrayed; often the smartest person in the room, so always surprised when she’s outwitted.” —Harvard Magazine
“If the premise sounds like a history lesson, this play delivers a hilarious, beautifully written tale of what it takes to be a woman in power and how absolute power does inevitably corrupt absolutely … the writing is both poetic and powerful and the comedy is intelligent and sharp. The wily Senenmut has an evil streak that rivals many a Shakespearean villain.” —Tribeca Trib
“FIT FOR A QUEEN reveals the life and reign of Hatshepsut in a way never before explored, thus ensuring Hatshepsut’s name is not lost to the ages.” —Huffington Post
Author
Betty ShamiehBetty Shamieh is the author of fifteen plays and the Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH). Her comedy, MALVOLIO, premiered in the Uptown Shakespeare in the Park at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheatre and was a New York Times Critic's Pick. Winner of the 2023 New York Shakespeare Award for Best Comedy, MALVOLIO was nominated for ten AUDELCO Awards, including Best Play. A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale School of Drama, Shamieh was named a UNESCO Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue, Harvard University Clifton Visiting Artist, a Denning Visiting Artist at Stanford, and Radcliffe Playwriting Fellow. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Drama in 2016. Her dramedy, ROAR, premiered off-Broadway at the New Group and was named a New York Times Critic's Pick. Her other theatre productions include: THE BLACK EYED (New York Theatre Workshop & The Magic Theatre), FIT FOR A QUEEN (Classical Theatre of Harlem), THE MACHINE (Naked Angels), THE STRANGEST (The Semitic Root), and TERRITORIES (EU Capital of Culture Festival & The Magic Theatre). Shamieh wrote and co-starred in her play of monologues, CHOCOLATE IN HEAT, in two extended Off-Off-Broadway runs and over twenty university theatres. Her works have been translated into seven languages. Her debut novel, Too Soon, will be published by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in 2025. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook @bettyshamieh.
Book Information
| Publisher | BPPI |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 4/18/2018 |
| Pages | 66 |
| ISBN | 9780881457636 |
Special Notes
FIT FOR A QUEEN was first produced by the Classical Theatre of Harlem
(Ty Jones, Artistic Director; David Roberts, Managing Director)
opening on 7 October 2016
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypublishing.com
