Review: THE APIARY at New Village Arts

I’ve watched (and loved) enough sci-fi movies to know that any animals kept in a lab eventually come for the humans. Monkeys. Sharks. Dinosaurs. So you can’t blame me for being deeply suspicious of the bees in the lab in "The Apiary” now playing at New Village Arts through February 22, 2026. Or is it just that I’m allergic to bees and have seen too many cautionary tales about hubris in lab coats?

Written by Kate Douglas,  “The Apiary”  is set in a near-future dystopia where humanity is forced to deal with the environmental problems its ancestors (hi, that’s us) ignored until it was too late. Twenty-two years from now, people are speaking in awe of the time when honey was available, and when almonds were abundant enough that we casually turned them into milk.  Bees are disappearing at an alarming rate, and two science-minded beekeepers work in a lab searching for a way to save them, and, by extension, us.

The cast—Michelle Caravia, Adelaida Martinez, Milena (Sellers) Philips, and Nio Russell—commit fully to the speculative stakes and ground the play as much as the script allows. Martinez plays the sweet everyperson who wants to save the bees and the world; Philips is the brilliant scientist who absolutely should know better but pushes forward anyway; and Caravia is the sharp, egotistical manager whose ethics are questionable and who is oblivious to what her employees are doing. Russell embodies the humanity they are trying to preserve, first as a luminous woman in vibrant colors, recalling a youth filled with family and traditions, including bees, and then through subsequent characters that chart how this altered society shapes each generation.

Their discovery hinges on an exaggeration of a real but rare bee behavior, expanded here into a full-blown, ethically dubious solution that asks big questions about scientific ethics, personal connection, ambition, sacrifice, and survival. 

Director Kristianne Kurner and the design team do alot of heavy lifting, elevating the material. Translucent walls created by Santa Ana–based Kingspan Light + Air, paired with Michael Wogulis’ projections, turn the Carlsbad stage into a sleek, unsettling apiary lab devoid of any color or warmth. Sound design by Miki Vale convincingly places bees all around us, a reminder that nature is watching, waiting, and possibly organizing (Am I the only one thinking about the warning from the scientist from War Games?)

Science fiction is notoriously tricky onstage, and Douglas’ writing leans hard into exposition over tension or character. The trouble is, “The Apiary” spends so much time explaining that it forgets to make us care about the people doing it.  I found myself wishing the play leaned further into the horror of it all, but that would require a clearer, bolder concept. Ironically, the bees, the unseen threat, are the most compelling characters in the room.

Ultimately, “The Apiary” wants to warn us about many things, but without sharper writing or deeper characters, the message loses its sting.  (Sorry, I had to.)

How to get Tickets

“The Apiary” is playing at New Village Arts through February 22nd.  For ticket and showtime information, go to www.newvillagearts.org

Please be advised:” The Apiary”  contains sensitive subject matter that may be challenging for some audiences. Please reach out to New Village Arts for additional details.