A Bee Story follows a queen and worker bee as they look for a new home after their hive is burned by bushfires. Produced by Australian company Arc Circus, the show mixes circus, dance, live music and gymnastics together to create a performance with a strong narrative theme and more than a few moments of amazement.
This is a show that, at its heart, exists to raise awareness of bees, and the challenges they face as a species, but it’s also just delightfully charming. Being completely non-verbal, performers Robbie Curtis and Lizzie McRae artfully tell this story entirely physically, with exaggerated movement and expressions that ensured the young audience were able to follow along. Using flips, juggling, balancing acts and even unicycle skipping, along with a plethora of creative props, these Australians really won the heart of the audience.
It might surprise people who know me to hear that I actually love attending children’s shows. The work that performers have to put in to create something really engaging is staggering, especially since children have zero chill, and if they don’t like something, they don’t hold back.
That’s how I knew that at the 35-minute mark the show was starting to lose the audience, with one kid next to me even declaring he was sleepy before laying across the bench. The jostling of discontent was short-lived though, and very quickly, performers Robbie Curtis and Lizzie McRae pulled it back, finishing on a high that had mouths agape.
I would also say the flute struggled to compete against the sound of the fans that Assembly (thankfully!) ran to try and cool the Piccolo down, and would benefit from being amplified. Similarly, some of the smaller movements and prop work weren’t visible from the back of the room as they were obstructed by the audience.
Although able to love and appreciate the performance as a childless 30-year-old, I wanted to get the opinion of the core demographic – families. After the show, I stopped a family to get their reaction.
Owen, aged 9, said it was “pretty good” (tough crowd!) and said his favourite part was the flute. Owen's little sister was too shy to speak to me, but mother Doriane said that she was pretty gripped throughout. Doriane said that this was a great family show, and really engaging, but some of the longer sections might need refining to keep the audience's attention, mirroring what I sensed about certain elements.
Arc Circus have put together a delightful show that at 50 minutes is long enough to keep children entertained with plenty for parents to love too.
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