Urbanite Theatre's 'The Apiary' asks the question, 'To bee or not to bee'

Urbanite Theatre's “The Apiary” unfolds in the not-too-distant future. What's an apiary? It's an area for beekeeping. This one's a black comedy — and incandescent science-fiction. Kate Douglas' play zeroes in on two lab assistants, Zora and Pilar, who struggle to save the last surviving honeybee hive. Why do they struggle? Because bees matter. The planet’s web of life is tightly woven — and if the bees die, humanity dies, too. There’s far more to it than that. Urbanite Artistic Director Summer Dawn Wallace, the play’s director, reveals the secrets of her world-building in the following talk.

What was your gut reaction when you first read “The Apiary”? 

"This play is fantastic. I’ve got to direct this!” (laughs) It instantly grabbed me on an emotional level. I immediately included it in our Modern Works Festival of staged readings in 2023.

Your intellectual reaction?

Well, that was a delayed reaction. I started thinking about the practical challenges. “How can we stage this larger-than-life play in our wee little space?” During the reading, I listened — but I was also trying to visualize it.

What grabbed you in the first place?

I loved this play’s blend of science, art and ethics. “The Apiary” is solid science-fiction, but it’s ultimately about the human condition — and our place in global ecological systems. A near-future lab is racing to solve the worldwide collapse of bee populations. Humanity’s survival depends on it. But survival at what cost? That’s really the big question: “What price will you pay to save something you love?”

That sounds pretty heavy. Does that apply to the play’s tone?

No. “The Apiary” isn’t heavy at all. It’s a hilarious, dark, science-fiction comedy. It deals with disturbing scenarios — but it’s very, very funny. Apart from “funny,” I’d say it’s “disorienting” and “surprising.” You’re constantly thinking: What’s happening now? What’s happening next? But you can’t second-guess where this play’s going. That’s true for both audience and characters.

Ah. I assume the apocalypse clock is ticking?

Yeah. As the crisis deepens, the researchers explore solutions that blur the line between ecological repair and biological experimentation. There’s a real human cost.

Photo by Sorcha Augustine

Where and when does “The Apiary” take place?

We’re essentially inside a lab in 2048. The two lab assistants — Zora (Dekyi Rongi) and Pilar (Christina Mei Chen) — are trying to recreate a habitat for bees and get them to pollinate, but the bees refuse to cooperate and they’re dying at a rapid rate. Their micro-managing supervisor Gwen (Ariel Blue) is constantly demanding results — within a very tight budget. It’s a pressure-cooker situation.

What’s outside the lab?

You never see the outside world. The play hints that the planet is unwell, and that the human populace has been sickened with mass media and microplastics — but the playwright doesn’t hit you over the head with environmental facts. She’s focused on these lab assistants wrestling with huge scientific and ethical problems.

What’s the heart of “The Apiary”?

It’s about what it means to be human. It’s a dark comedy, but deeply human. It’s the journey of Zora and Pilar: their relationship, their grace under pressure and their realization that what they’re doing isn’t working. They’re confronted with the cost of survival, the ethics of preservation and the seduction of routine in the face of extinction. The play keeps raising the stakes: What are you willing to do to save humanity? How far will you go?

How far do they go?

Pretty far. But you’ll have to see the play to find out.

“The Apiary” feels both futuristic and timely. What contemporary anxieties does it speak to?


Most of them. (laughs) It taps into how we communicate now — or don’t. Artificial intelligence is definitely in the air. We’re using AI technology to communicate and losing our appreciation of what’s around us. We’ve normalized one-click convenience at an inhuman level. It might easily destroy the planet.

That reminds of The Dead Kennedys album: “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.”

That’s hilarious. But it’s not … (laughs) I don’t want to spoil it. Once you see the play, you’ll see why that’s so funny.

“The Apiary” is all wrapped up in a hive metaphor — but a metaphor for what? Is the play political, biological, spiritual or existential?


All of the above. The play blends real-world sustainability with theatrical storytelling and an immersive sci-fi aesthetic. Like I said, the core of “The Apiary” is humanity. It interrogates the cost of survival and the ethics of species preservation — and the collision of personal ethics and the so-called “greater good.”

That sounds insanely ambitious. How do you put that all on stage?

We’re leaning into immersion. We’ve recreated the science lab — audiences will have to walk through it to reach their seats. So, you get pulled inside this world immediately. That wasn’t easy. We had to fit a very big play inside The Urbanite’s tiny space.

How did you do that? What conversations did you have with your designers about world-building?

Hundreds of them. We focused on specifics, not effects for their own sake. The script requires being inside an apiary. We can’t literally glass the space in, so we’re creating illusions: a sealed area, a sense of what’s outside and the transition space between them. Lighting and sound are huge in this — it’s taken the entire design team working together. We’ve created a giant light installation across the back wall to help “create” the bees. I’ve been doing props and set dressing, too — a honeycomb, fake bees, all of it — so it’s been a full-group effort to make this world feel real. Jeff Weber’s set design, Ethan Vail’s lighting and Louis Vetter-Torres’s sound — they’ve all been amazing.

Are any actual bees involved?

No. (laughs) No bees are harmed in the making of this production. You’ll hear bees. You might even see bees. I’ve had fun making honeycomb with resin. And yes — the playwright gives you some weird stage directions. 

Urbanite audiences love challenging work. Will they love “The Apiary” …?

Absolutely. And I think they’ll have a great time. This play was well received at Modern Works — audiences loved it — and I think they’ll love it again. I hope it’ll nudge people to think about consumables — what we use, what we waste — and maybe commune with nature, and appreciate the flowers and tiny pollinators they depend on. The play encourages you to reconnect with other people — and have real conversations. We come to the theater to experience something together. With AI and technology and everything else, we’re losing that ability. Enjoy it while you can.