Photo 1: Kit Asa-Hauser as Young Oleta and Donald Hardy as Francis
Photo 2: Melissa Keith and Kit Asa-Hauser as Adult and Young Oleta
Photos courtesy Virago Theatre Company
BEES SWARM THE THEATRE
Virago's Beekeeper Opens March 18
By Miguel Gamalinda
When you think of Colony Collapse Disorder, which is a phenomenon in which a number of worker bees disappear from their hive without any explanation, you don’t necessarily think of a live theatre performance, do you? In most circumstances, I don’t, and I’m a theatre actor myself. However, that’s not what Jennifer Lynne Roberts thought when she managed to fuse together the two subjects into an original play titled Beekeeper, which makes it’s world premiere on Friday, March 18 right here in Alameda by the Virago Theatre Company.
Taking place in a fluctuating timeline, Beekeeper’s time setting changes from scene to scene in non-chronological order, often switching through different events between 1994 and 2009. Both settings deal with the trials and tribulations of Oleta Broadbent, the central character of the show. Due to the constantly changing time period, Oleta is many ages during this show, and is portrayed by two actresses, one as a child and another as an adult. Approximately eight years old in the 1994 timeline, Oleta is a child that is in many ways different from “normal” (Whatever that means…) children of her age. Oleta shows a deep fascination with the daily lives of her father Francis’ honeybees, to the point where she ends up feeling comfortable enough to talk to them as if they were able to understand what she was saying. This behavior doesn’t go unnoticed by Daniel, one of her classmates, resulting in him labeling Oleta as a “freak” which in turn brings devastating consequences. Both the fascination with bees and the devastating consequences of her childhood carry Oleta to approximately 2009, where she is now planning to move far away from home to study and analyze the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder. However, she finds out that her father Francis has died from injuries resulting from his falling off a ladder, forcing her to return. It’s here where she is greeted by her incredibly humorous and cursing-prone Uncle Bob and her authoritative (At least to Uncle Bob) but loving Aunt Ida, who is constantly fed up with her husband‘s cursing problem (His “art“ he proclaims). Both are present to comfort Oleta and take care of Francis’ remaining affairs.
The six-member cast includes Melissa Keith as Adult Oleta, Kit Asa-Hauser as Young Oleta, Donald L. Hardy as Francis, George McRae (AEA-affiliated) as Uncle Bob, Sandi Rubay as Aunt Ida, and Julian Lafferty as Daniel. Understudying the role of Young Oleta is Trixie Klein.
The show features both many comedic and emotionally powerful moments, and all moments are portrayed by six fantastic actors who portray all emotions in a way that easily makes audience members laugh and cry in the right places. In particular, Asa-Hauser and Keith as Oleta and Hardy as Francis bring much emotion and power to their characters that you feel every bit of it from the audience. McRae and Rubay, Uncle Bob and Aunt Ida, respectively, seem to serve more as the “comic relief” of the show, as evidenced by the light bickering that all old married couples are stereotyped to do. However, Aunt Ida is also sometimes critical of Francis‘ methods of raising his daughter, trying to say that Oleta should be more of a “mainstream” child than the “different” child she is. Also represented is the all too common fact that children can be extremely cruel to those they consider to not fit in and conform to what is considered to be “normal” (By the way, has anyone found out what that means yet?). Beekeeper also addresses the very important social issue of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which as of now, still remains a completely mystery. Almost everything related to the bees that happens in the show is also occurring in our very own lives. The show offers a possible explanation to the mysteries of CCD through thinking of it in a different way than most have seen it as. In any case, whatever the cause may be, Colony Collapse Disorder is affecting our lives in so many ways. Nearly all of our grown food is pollinated by bees, and without bees to pollinate the crops, there would no more grown food left. Essentially, we can’t exist without bees.
Beekeeper makes its world premiere at 8 p.m. on March 18 at Rhythmix Cultural Works, located at 2513 Blanding Ave. in Alameda. The show was written by Jennifer Lynne Roberts, is produced by the Virago Theatre Company, and is directed by Laura Lundy-Paine, also the company’s Artristic Director. Also on the show's production staff are Julie Gillespie for Set and Prop design, Ryan Lee Short for Sound Design, Lyrica Tyree for Light Design, and Jennifer Gough for Costume Deisgn.
The show runs through April 2, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays and 8 p.m. and on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Please note that there is no performance on Friday, April 1. General admission is $25 and Student/Seniors Admission is $20.
All in all, the Virago Theatre Company has produced a fabulous and amazing premiere production of this original and captivating story that has audiences sitting on the edges of their seats with their eyes peeled throughout the whole show. It’s extremely difficult to believe that it’s already intermission when it comes.
Miguel Gamalinda is a musical theatre actor who has recently appeared as Mr. Mushnik in “Little Shop of Horrors” and Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.” He is currently scheduled to play the title role of Pippin in Berkeley Playhouse’s upcoming production of “Pippin” this May and is a graduate of Island High School in Alameda.
