She Is King – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Other Forces 2014 from the Incubator Arts Project presents She Is King, a multimedia performance by Laryssa Husiak. In She Is King, Husiak reenacts three pivotal interviews with legendary tennis player, feminist, queer icon, and a leader of the U.S. delegation to the 2014 Sochi Olympics Billie Jean King. The interviews span the time period from the early 1970s, following King’s infamous Battle of the Sexes tennis match with Bobby Riggs, to the early 1980s, after Marilyn Barnett revealed she and King had an affair.
Maxamoo
Billie Jean King is a remarkable figure in history whose impact we are only beginning to recognize. Watching Husiak’s excellent, verbatim, performance of King’s interviews brings into stark relief the obstacles King faced as she rose to prominence as a female sports celebrity in the 1960s and 70s, a concept the world hardly recognized at the time.
Husiak is joined by Louisa Bradshaw and Joshua William Gelb, who give great performances as Tony Tennille and Barbara Walters and James Day and Larry King, respectively, and throughout the piece Husiak is flanked by five adorable, although at times lacking in focus, children who serve as the literal and metaphorical behind the scenes tech crew.
She Is King is interesting as both a piece of entertainment and an historical chronicle of a fascinating person. We have two small quibbles, the first transition is too slow and interrupts the well-earned momentum from the first interview and, second, we did not understand the relationship between the Bob Dylan song at the end and the rest of the piece. Nonetheless, we hope many people see this performance.
Public Opinion
At least one member of the public seems to have enjoyed the show, Billie Jean King is described in the New York Times as offering encouraging laughter throughout the performance she attended. What else, who else matters?
Have you seen She Is King? What did you think? Share your thoughts in a comment below or tweet us at @maxamoo
Critics Reviews
The Andy Gram
The whole production is a short, disciplined theatrical match worth seeing.
New York Times
“She Is King” makes its points smartly and painlessly, though, even at 75 minutes, it can ramble on, not unlike an unscripted TV chat show
NYtheater Now
The cast is delightful in their recreation of those 70s broadcasts (if you liked Frost-Nixon, this will be most enjoyable)
TICKETS
$18.00 (click to purchase tickets from OvationTix, the official online ticket seller for She Is King)
DATES
Performances through January 26, 2014
LOCATION
Incubator Arts Project
131 E 10th St
New York City, NY
[google-map-v3 width=”250″ height=”250″ zoom=”13″ maptype=”roadmap” mapalign=”left” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”131 E 10th St New York City, NY{}1-default.png” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”]
RUNNING TIME
75 minutes, no intermission
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Created by Laryssa Husiak
Directed by Katherine Brook
Featuring Laryssa Husiak, Louisa Bradshaw, Joshua William Gelb