Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...The stakes are high. At least they are meant to be - professional bragging rights hang in the balance, but also the potential to bring about real change beneficial to the planet - but something about the way the issues are presented, they don't land with the kind of dramatic, heart-thumping oomph and tension that's needed. For all the drama at the play's center, too often it feels theoretical, too uneventful to truly engage the brain or the soul."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Madhuri Shekar's provocative world premiere play, "Queen," which examines the nature of the scientific method, personal ethics and (as its title suggests), the profoundly worrying demise of the global honeybee population in recent decades, could not have arrived on the stage of Victory Gardens Theater at a more propitious moment than it did last Friday. For the very next day - in protest against the Trump administration's threat of budget cuts for agencies funding scientific work - there was a formidable March for Science, as crowds massed in the U.S. capital and around the world to support science and evidence-based research."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Mohanty and Adam Poss enjoy some amusing sitcom relationship antics, and somewhere in Joanie Schultz's Victory Gardens production are the ingredients for a satire about how wildly intelligent people can make wildly stupid choices, but as presented, it's a lesson in stating the obvious."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...In most moments of this play, there is an intimacy and an urgency that can draw in people who know nothing about science generally, or the bee problem specifically. One need not know anything about science and how it is pursued in order to identify with the two women who are struggling within their own lives with the day-to-day stressors that make all of our lives complicated. I think this is wherein Shekar's script most succeeds. Friends support each other, until the crucial moment when they don't. Fights get personal, and healing is difficult. This is the messiness of being human told in a tale of people who are often seen as distant and clinical in their interactions with others."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Along the happily efficient but somewhat contrived way, Schultz’s quartet and Shekar’s light touch never belabor a taut and truthful drama. Though mired in bureaucracy and driven to shortcuts, Sanam and Ariel are crusaders in their own right, as necessary as pollinators and beekeepers. They’re a credit to our hive."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...The beauty of the story is the quickness in which we go from one scene to another, keeping us involved along the route they must take. There is a major error! One that will have a major effect on both the ladies and their futures. It will also have a great affect on their sponsor. After all, he is the one that backed them on this project. While part of what we witness is each one’s look at the direction they should or must take. If they take a short-cut and change the numbers to make the proof work for the findings, are they cheating? Are they breaking the law? Will they be ruined? On the other hand, if they drop the project and do not complete their thesis, are they failed and disgraced?"
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Although “Queen” is a world premiere it is in fine shape as it now stands and should go forth into the regional theater world as a popular selection. The economics favor the show, with the small cast and modest physical demands. There is some pretty dense scientific discussion in the script, but they don’t blur the play’s narrative heart. Both sides are given a fair hearing, though the viewer may initially believe that there is no contest between Sanam’s demand for truth and Ariel’s self interested cry for compromise. It turns out to be not so simple."
Let's Play - Somewhat Recommended
"...Queen debates this issue when two young female Ph.D. candidates tirelessly work for close to a decade trying to figure out why the bee population is vanishing to the point of distinction. With the mathematical wisdom of Sanam played by (Priya Mohanty), they are able to develop an algorithm which allows them to make a definitive calculation as to why this phenomenon is occurring. They joyously celebrate their findings and even become a little boisterous about their work getting published in the scientist journal, however, a major predicament arises and Sanam discovers a flaw. This miscalculation of additional statistical findings brings up a moral dilemma of "What Should They Do?""
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...The ensemble of four actors worked together wonderfully. The witty script called for a fast-paced production, and the actors met that challenge with ease. In particular, the chemistry between the performers helped push the play over the top."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"..."Queen" is a play about consequences and who suffers from them. And while it eventually capitulates to the hurt feelings and savior complex of a white woman, it does so with a broader understanding of the political drama that has been unfolding in America since its inception: those who cheat very often win and the idea that it is better to take the moral highroad risks the collapse of society as we know it and could potentially trigger the destruction of the entire planet."
