REVIEW

MARY BUMBY’S HIVE OF STORY At the Hamilton Arts Festival

Review by Writeon Arts, 24 February 2024

Gifted storyteller, researcher, environmentalist and educator Tanya Batt performed “Mary Bumby’s Hive of Story” to a receptive audience including bees (more later) in the ideally chosen English Garden as part of the Hamilton Arts Festival on Saturday. Mary Bumby was first performed in 2019 but took an enforced break during the pandemic years. The show hit the road again and has since covered the length of the country.

Part history lesson, part comedy and partly educational, Mary Bumby is based on the true story of the pioneer who brought Apis Mellifera (the honeybee) to New Zealand landing on 19 March 1839. Mary’s brother John was a honey loving Wesleyan missionary hence Mary procuring two hives in Australia on her trip out from England. At the latest count there are 27 species of native bees in Aotearoa, and the Apis Mellifera’s DNA can still be found in parts of the Hokianga to this day.

Bee whakapapa, nods to Dame Julie Andrews and Sir David Attenborough, songs, puppetry, charades and comedy were woven throughout the sixty-minute deep dive into apiculture. Talented Peter Forster provided incidental music on a variety of instruments. Audience participation added to a multi-dimensional performance that at one point featured a bee resting on someone’s hand. How’s that for having an extra turning up on cue?

The ancient Egyptians, Greek, Mayans, Chinese and Malaysian’s lore of bees were explored in a way that kept the younger spectators spellbound. Learning moments were punctuated by a variety of methods, presumably picked up by Batt during her work in the education sector.

Batt did not stray far from her script but was able to seamlessly include impromptu lines during the hour. Sharp and witty, Batt’s accent was faultless as was her ability to manoeuvre a large, hooped dress in the scorching sun.

To borrow a portion of opening and closing line from Mary Bumby “In a time of chaos and confusion when poisons are the scourge of the earth..." kaiako Tanya Batt had everyone buzzing at her ingenious show that offered a unique mix of subjects – science, history, biology and the arts. Mary Bumby’s Hive of Story was an apt choice for a Festival delivered by the queen bee of narration.