HoneyBEE centres around Kate, as she attends a festival in her 20s, dealing with the highs and lows of her first ventures into adulthood. This piece of both poetry and physical theatre is relatable and heart-breaking, taking a difficult look into human experiences many of us have or will face in our 20s.
We meet Kate as she glitters up for the festival and deals with jealousy, body dysmorphia, substance abuse and grief. Although these are tough topics to deal with this piece deals with them in a thoughtful and real way. We realise we are just small pieces that are part of something much bigger.
The storytelling combined with the physical movement is a different and more understandable way to show both substance abuse and body image issues that some words can’t explain. The feeling and raw emotion that performer Elle Dillon-Reams uses to put across this story hits the audience in the chest and makes the audience’s own experiences with similar issues feel validated. Dillon-Reams has a great way of expressing that its okay to feel out of control and confused in life and what you want from it.
Many of the experiences that the character of Kate faces in this play are ones that many of us will face in our lives but maybe aren’t talked about enough. The experience of losing friends and having to grieve for the lives of people your own age, realising that just because you are young doesn’t mean you re invincible, alongside body issues and drink/drug problems that are normalised in British culture.
The performance ends by bringing the audience together for some really touching audience participation. Dillon-Reams helps to give the audience hope and to remember that it will always be alright in the end and it’s never too late to start over no matter what age you are.
By Esmé Violet Anderson
HoneyBEE
Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One
14:15
Aug 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27
