It’s Art Basel, Miami’s weeklong party for the rich and famous, where real estate heiress Julie reigns over the blowout her mogul father is throwing at his South Beach hotel. But after tangling with her father and a run-in with a tray of cocktails, Julie plots her next move in the hotel’s barely used storage kitchen. Her companions are Christine, a cocktail waitress who recently fled violence in Venezuela, and Christine’s fiancé John, an Uber driver with ambitions. This explosive elixir of power, class, and race within the Latinx community is a bold and contemporary take on Strindberg’s Miss Julie by vibrant rising voice Hilary Bettis (TV’s The Americans).
Runtime: This performance will run approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes with no intermission.
Environmental Warnings: This production will feature strobe-like effects.
Queen of Basel is generously underwritten
by Bobbi and Ralph Terkowitz.
Hilary Bettis writes plays, TV, and movies. Her work includes 72 miles to go..., Queen of Basel, Blood & Dust, The Ghosts of Lote Bravo, The History of American Pornography, and Alligator. She was nominated for a 2018 Writer’s Guild of America Award for her work on the Emmy- nominated series The Americans on FX.
She is a two-time recipient of the Lecomte du Nouy Prize from Lincoln Center and is a 2015 graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwright Fellowship at The Juilliard School. Hilary has received fellowships, workshops, and residencies at the Roundabout, Alley All New Festival, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, John N. Wall Fellow at Sewanee Writers’ Conference, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Writer-In-Residence at Cape Cod Theatre Project, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, Playwrights’ Week at The Lark, NNPN’s National Showcase of New Plays, Audrey Residency at New Georges, Two River Theater, Great Plains Theatre Conference, WildWind Lab at Texas Tech, The Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Workshop, and a Sloan/EST Commission. She has had plays recognized by The Kilroys every year since its inception. She has been a Runner-Up for the Alliance Theatre’s Kendeda Award, Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition, American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink Award, New America Fellowship, and the Leah Ryan Prize. She is a member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages, Ensemble Studio Theater, a Usual Suspect at NYTW, and an Affiliated Artist at New Georges.
The Ghosts of Lote Bravo received a NNPN Rolling World Premiere at the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, MO and Borderlands Theater in Tucson, AZ. Her play Alligator was produced Off-Broadway with New Georges and The Sol Project, and was nominated for a 2017 Drama Desk for Outstanding Music in a Play. Queen of Basel, an adaptation of Miss Julie commissioned by Miami New Drama, received a developmental production at Miami New Drama in April 2018, and will premiere at Studio Theatre this winter.
As a screenwriter, Hilary has written and produced two short films, B’Hurst and The Iron Warehouse, which have screened at multiple film festivals across the globe. She wrote and produced her directorial debut short, Amarillo by Morning, currently in post-production. She has developed and sold multiple original TV shows, and is currently developing a project with Propgate.
José Zayas has directed over 100 productions in New York, regionally and internationally. Recent credits include: The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir (BAM, Mass MoCa, US and European Tour), A Nonesuch Celebration (BAM), Undocumented (Joe's Pub), Blind Spot, In The Name of Salome, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (Ace and Hola awards for best production and direction), Burundanga, The House of the Spirits (Ace Awards, Hola Award and Ovation awards for best production and direction), Your Name Will Follow You Home, La Nena Se Casa, Love in the Time of Cholera, In the Time of the Butterflies, Madre (el drama padre), Besame Mucho, Nowhere on the Border, and Barcelo on the Rocks (Repertorio Español), Washed Up on the Potomac (Flea Theater), Pinkolandia and El Coqui Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom (Two River Theatre), Corazon Eterno, (Mixed Blood), Southern Promises and Strom Thurmond is not a Racist (PS 122, Brick), Useless (IRT), Father of Lies and Vengeance Can Wait (PS122); P.S. Jones and the Frozen City, Feeder: A Love Story (TerraNOVA Collective); Okay, Mrs. Jones and the Man From Dixieland (EST), The Idea of Me (Cherry Lane Theatre), The Queen Bees (Queens Theatre in the Park), Manuel Vs. The Statue of Liberty and Children of Salt (NYMF), Cancun, Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Gala Theatre, DC), Wedding Dress, The Island of Lonely Man (Teatro Espressivo, Costa Rica). He has premiered works by Caridad Svich, Robert Askins, Thomas Bradshaw, Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater, Taylor Mac, Marco Antonio Rodriguez, Lynn Rosen, Saviana Stanescu, Carlos Murillo, Rob Urbinati, Kristina Poe, Catherine Filloux, James Carter, Gerardo Cardenas, Matt Barbot and Jordi Galceran. He was assistant director for Talk Radio directed by Robert Falls, Regrets Only directed by Christopher Ashley, and Come Back Little Sheba directed by Michael Pressman. Awards: Ace, Hola Awards, Premios Ati, Ovation. Nytheater.com: People of the Year. Drama League Fellow, Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab, SoHo Rep Writers/Director’s Lab, NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, Ensemble Studio Theatre member, Resident Director Repertorio Español. Born in Puerto Rico, he graduated from Harvard and Carnegie Mellon Universities.
Christy Escobar makes her Studio debut in Queen of Basel. Off Broadway credits include Scissoring at INTAR, The Hollow at The Brick, Lady Macbeth and Her Lover at the Director’s Company, and Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train at the Atlantic Theater Company. She has appeared regionally in Bad Jews at the Long Wharf Theatre, The Great Gatsby at Virginia Stage Company, and others. Television credits include Dietland on AMC, Blindspot on NBC, and the upcoming Central Park Five on Netflix. Select film credits include Who We Are Now, Loser Leaves Town, Anomalous, Viral Beauty, and the upcoming The Man in the Woods and The Rehearsal. She was the recipient of the 2018 New Dramatists Charles Bowden Award. Christy holds an MFA in acting from New York University.
(As of February 2019)
Dalia Davi is a bilingual actress from the South Bronx and makes her Studio debut in Queen of Basel. Off Broadway credits include Dido of Idaho (EST), Sonnets on Tap (Cherry Lane Theater), Undesirable Elements (Ping Chong & Company for Lincoln Center Institute), Three Calla Lillies and Simpson Street produced by Miriam Colon (Puerto Rican Traveling Theater), and ADA: Power, directed by Neil Labute (La MaMa Theater). She spent six seasons with Repertorio Español performing in In the Name of Salomé, Aunt Julia and The Script Writer (NYT Critics’ Pick), In the Time of the Butterflies, Love In The Time of Cholera, 21, and La Nena se Casa. Her television and film credits include The I-Land (Netflix, 2019), Gabi (Tribeca Film Festival), Eliot Loves (HBO Latino Film Festival), and Ana (Urban World Film Festival). Current projects in development include her one-woman show about the life of Hollywood legend Maria Montez and the documentary Shakespeare Avenue the Bronx.
(As of February 2019)
Andy Lucien makes his Studio debut in Queen of Basel. Previous New York City credits include The Qualms at Playwrights Horizons, City of Conversation at Lincoln Center, The Rape of the Sabine Women... at Playwrights Realm, and The Last Seder at Theatre Three. Other theatre credits include Cry Old Kingdom and 27 Ways I Didn’t Say Hi to Laurence Fishburne at the Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Last Tiger in Haiti at Berkeley Repertory Theater/La Jolla. Playhouse. Film and television work includes Seven Lovers, a recurring role in Daredevil on Netflix, a recurring role on NBC’s The Blacklist, a recurring role on Madam Secretary, Drew, and Elementary on CBS and the upcoming Vows: The Series.
(As of February 2019)
Debra Booth is Director of Design at Studio Theatre, where she has designed If I Forget, Translations, The Wolves, The Father, The Hard Problem, Moment, Constellations, The Apple Family Cycle, Jumpers for Goalposts, Belleville, Cock, Edgar & Annabel, Bachelorette, Moonlight, Blackbird, My Children! My Africa!, The Pillowman, and many others. Her international work includes premiere opera Marco Polo (Tan Dun/Martha Clarke) in Munich, Hong Kong, and New York. Regionally, Debra’s credits include Small Mouth Sounds at Round House Theatre; Richard III, The Collection, and The Lover at the Shakespeare Theatre Company; Marisol at Hartford Stage and The Public Theatre; Trying, The Illusion, and Happy Days at Portland Stage Company; the New York premiere of Angels in America at The Juilliard School; Broken Glass at Philadelphia Theatre Company (Barrymore Award nomination); and Moon for the Misbegotten at Yale Repertory Theatre. Debra is the recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Design Grant, and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
(As of October 2019)
Ivania Stack previously designed several productions at Studio Theatre including I Wanna F***ing Tear You Apart and Water By The Spoonful among others. Ivania designs for many regional and DC area theatres, including Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Company Member), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre (Resident Artist), Kennedy Center, Center Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, The Second City, Signature Theatre, Imagination Stage, Olney Theatre Center and Studio Theatre. She has an MFA in design from the University of Maryland and is an Adjunct Lecturer for Georgetown University.
(As of February 2019)
Andrew Cissna returns to Studio Theatre after designing Murder Ballad, Silence! The Musical, and I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. Regional credits include Jitney at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Noises Off and Harvey at Milwaukee Rep, Seminar at PlayMakers Repertory Company, and Noises Off at Perseverance Theatre. Recent DC credits include Gem of the Ocean and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House Theatre, Heisenberg and John at Signature Theatre, Me Jane at Kennedy Center TYA, and Copenhagen at Theatre J. Andrew holds a BFA from UNC School of the Arts and an MFA from the University of Maryland.
(As of February 2019)
ML Dogg recently designed Straight White Men for Second Stage Theatre; Oh, Hello On Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre; and The Pee-wee Herman Show On Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Other recent credits include God Said This and Downstairs, both for Primary Stages; In the Body Of the World for Manhattan Theatre Club; What We’re Up Against for WP Theatre; Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train for Signature Theatre; and Here Lies Love for the Seattle Repertory Theatre. He was a nominee for several Drama Desk Awards and received the Lucille Lortel Award for the original production of Here Lies Love at the Public Theater.
(As of February 2019)
Adrien-Alice Hansel is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Cry It Out,Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of eight editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2019)
Madison Bahr's Studio Theatre productions include Queen of Basel, The Remains, Moment, Murder Ballad, Chimerica, and The Torch Song Trilogy. Other regional credits include Cabaret at Olney Theatre Center; Billy Elliot: The Musical at Signature Theatre; Charlotte’s Web and The Little Mermaid at Imagination Stage; Kiss and Guards at the Taj at Woolly Mammoth; Our Suburb at Theater J; ReEntry, Next Fall, and Glengarry Glen Ross at Round House Theatre; and In The Heart Of America at Rep Stage. Madison holds a BA in Theatre with a focus in Stage Management from the University of Maryland (College Park).
(As of October 2019)
