She Is King

photo credit: Katherine Brook 2013


Here is a introduction to what She Is King is all about!


She Is King - Excerpt - Opening number and first interview, performed at Incubator Arts Project, January 2014.

Billie Jean King “seems to morph from tennis star to feminist hero before our eyes.”  – The New York Times

“Husiak, directed by Katherine Brook, is funny, entertaining, and sympathetic.”
– The New Yorker

“…underscore(s) how fresh nostalgia can be when served in the proper basket.” 
– Michael Musto (Out Magazine) 

“Husiak’s performance is pitch-perfect and Brook’s staging is crisp…” – The Village Voice

“Husiak is a wonder in the role…The production is a risk-taker, a rabble-rouser that believes in its content enough to take creative chances” The Andy Gram

“Hilarious, maddening and heartbreaking at times…  a must-see…the docuplay itself is brilliant and engages the audience from beginning to end” – PQ Monthly

Coinciding the 40th anniversary of the historic “Battle of the Sexes”, She Is King is a live performance that uses archival footage to reenact three interviews at pivotal moments in the career of tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King. She Is King captures the legend’s big personality and subtle maneuvers as King manages the pressure of her success and being a women in a field long dominated by men. The use of new interactive media via nine old TV screens magnifies the life of King as a public and private figure, and examines the impact of media on gender, sexuality and celebrity. She Is King is directed by Katherine Brook and performed by Laryssa Husiak, Josh Gelb, Louisa Bradshaw and a group of six twelve-year old kids, who act as both chorus and TV crew.

She Is King is built to tour and be presented in a variety of performance venues including theater and contemporary art spaces. For each presenting location, Husiak and Brook will conduct a 2-3 day workshop with a group of local kids centering around themes of gender, sexuality and performance. The participants will ultimately perform in the show. Check out this great blog, documenting our process and community involvement with Boom Arts in Portland, Oregon.

For more specific touring information please contact Laryssa.

Created and performed by Laryssa Husiak
Directed by Katherine Brook
With Louisa Bradshaw and Joshua William Gelb
Set & Lighting design by Josh Smith
Sound design by Chris Giarmo

She Is King was developed with the generous support of: The Iowa Arts Council, Art Matters Foundation, Yip Harburg Foundation, The Foundation of Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant and over one hundred individuals. 

She Is King was originally presented at the Des Moines Social Club in Des Moines, IA in June 2013. She Is King premiered in New York in January 2014 for a three week run at the Incubator Arts Project’s Other Forces Festival and most recently toured to Boom Arts in Portland, Oregon June 2015.