The Honey Bees

The beehive is one of nature’s great symbols of efficiency and elegant precision. What happens when this ordered structure falls into disarray? Milk Bar Magazine speaks to playwright Caleb Lewis about his new play The Honey Bees, which examines the mysterious global phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder through the eyes of a family of Australian apiarists as they struggle with their own internal conflicts.

First of all, could you give us a bit more background about yourself? Why did you decide to become a playwright?
I think I’ve always been fascinated by stories. I grew up with this magnificent illustrated compendium of Greek myths given to me by my grandmother and another huge book of European fairy tales; I’m sure that both had a huge influence on me. I’m interested in people and why we do the things we do. We only get to live one life and stories allow us vicariously to imagine other lives, other possibilities and other worlds.

The Honey Bees explores the environmental phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder, which has had enormous ramifications for the global agriculture industry. Why did you want to explore this issue through the medium of a play?
I believe that plays should grapple with the great dilemmas of our day. I first learned about Colony Collapse Disorder and the disappearance of the bees almost seven years ago and I was shocked. We depend on bee pollination for so many of our crops and yet they are disappearing and we still don’t exactly know why. The play asks us to consider our place as a part of – not apart from – the natural world. I’m not interested in theatre that’s didactic. If I want to learn a lesson, I can go to school or read a book.  Rather, I am interested in how we respond to a worldwide unnatural disaster of our own making. Drama should above all grab us by the lapel and pull us into the muck with the characters on stage.

One of the main things touched on in the play is the relative resistance of Australia’s bee colonies to Colony Collapse Disorder, compared to hives from other parts of the world. Was it important for you to write this play from a uniquely Australian perspective?
I should be clear that our bees are no more resistant to Colony Collapse Disorder than bees elsewhere, they simply benefit from our geographical isolation.  In fact, as soon as Australian bees were exported to the US for the annual almond pollination they were as prone as local bees to the disorder that soon wiped them out.  Australia remains the ONLY country in the world yet unaffected by CCD and for a while there we were making quite a bit of money live-exporting bees to replace dwindling stocks overseas. Yet as soon as CCD reaches here, every bee on the planet is vulnerable, as are the hundreds of crops that depend on bee pollination. I think that Australia often sees itself on the fringe of international affairs – sometimes it feels like we’re too far away from the centre.  However in this case, it’s that isolation which places us uniquely at the centre of this story.

The play seems to be filled with contrasts. It shows the actions of one family set against the backdrop of larger worldwide forces, perhaps not unlike the contrast in scale between a single bee and a whole colony. There also seems to be a tension between the environment and economic concerns. Could you comment further on this theme?
I think this generation stands on a precipice when it comes to our relationship with the natural world. I’m no great conservationist, but the more reading I’ve done the more sober I’ve become. If we don’t shift our economic model and if we continue to exploit the earth’s natural resources with no thought for the future, then we face a pretty bleak future. We all know that our current lifestyle is unsustainable and yet at an individual level we’re unwilling to give anything up or to go without. And I think that’s the question the play asks: What are we personally willing to sacrifice for the good of us all?

How would The Honey Bees compare to your other plays? What are some of the themes or areas you are interested in exploring in your future work?
There are a lot of animals in my plays. They seem to be a recurring motif. And the bees in this play proved such a powerful metaphor as their own society is so complex. Throughout history, the humble beehive has been held up as an analogue for everything from royalty to communism and capitalism. There is a Latin phrase that was often engraved on early hives, ‘Non nobis’, which translates roughly as ‘We work, but not for ourselves’. I reckon we could learn a bit from the bees on that point. Lastly, I have another play, Rust and Bone, which is opening at La Mama later this year. In that play and in this one, I’m drawn again and again to complex, flawed men and women, doing their best in extraordinary circumstances.

The Honey Bees
Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Rear 2 Chapel Street, St Kilda East
Tuesday June 14 – Saturday July 16
redstitch.net/gallery/the-honey-bees