This was a story written before the pandemic, and performed on the Fringe last year, but the importance of the story remains sadly topical.
The performers (and there are only two) are formerly members of much lauded circus troupes such as Circa and Cirque de Soleil.
Robbie Curtis and Lizzie McRae are hugely talented.
The acrobatics, tumbling, unicycling and juggling which they perform so well – McRae while playing a flute at some points – have to be seen to be believed.
For this reason alone they must make more of those talents in this show where they strive to reach the pollen in a very, very high flower for a while before a fire then takes hold. Our world news this summer has featured so many fires in so many countries, and who among us has ever spared a thought for the bees living there and their plight? We will now.
The Queen Bee (who arrives in the Piccolo tent so impressively) and the Worker Bee must work together to rebuild their hive when it is destroyed by wildfire. And work they do. The energy it takes to put on a 50-minute performance like this is considerable, and their skill is in making the acrobatics look so easy.
In the middle the story gets just a little bit lost – which is a great pity as the environmental issue is an important one and is conveyed to the audience of all ages with mime and music (yes of course Rimsky Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee is in there). On first sight the smoke appeared to be the normal tending of a hive by a beekeeper – who use smoke to calm bees. Sadly, the smoke signified something much worse than that – and the brilliant prop portraying the fire was used only fleetingly where another few moments could have resulted in more impact.
But the audience from babes in arms to grandparents, loved the show, particularly when the adventures took the performers into the raked seating of the spiegeltent, involving the young and not so young.
A definite recommendation for children of all ages.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/bee-story
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
