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Bees framing a friendship
The Honey Man
Birmingham Rep Door
**** THE Honey Man from writer and performer
Tyrone Huggins, the co-founder of Impact Theatre Co-operative, is a show
brimming with education, history and the deep story of an unlikely
friendship. The production is a comment on the understanding
between opposing generations and culture and is a response to the
effects of modern day technology. It is clear to see that Huggins has a voice for
the importance of nature. The Honey Man was born In a personal
playwriting project where he explored how the digital world impacts our
lives today. As an old West Indian bee keeper living in a shed
within the shadows of a grand manor house in the English countryside, we
see The Honey Man’s eccentric, but happy lifestyle. He forms an
important friendship with young and free Misty, born into gentry and the
daughter of the lord of the estate, totally unamused by the natural
world. Huggins feeds his views of technology of the
modern day throughout the whole performance. With excellent design from
Timothy Bird, a beautiful display of imagery through projection helps us
to engage with Huggins’ vision and listen to the story of each
generation from both sides. The script is lengthy with an interval. At first
this gave an inquisitive feel as to how the relationship between Honey
Man and Misty would unfold. As the show goes on, we see the connection
between the two transform from a complete misunderstanding of generation
and culture to characters who are in need of each other and their
connection becomes deeper than either would have guessed. The audience
see how close the pair become with brilliant direction from Emma
Bernard. The story is driven by the two performers only.
Tyrone Huggins is passionate for what he wants to say and delivers his
role accordingly. Through Huggins, we are educated on nature’s wondrous
and powerful natural ways, whilst being transfixed into an engaging tale
made from his own mind. Not to mention, a humorous and loveable
character. Misty is played by Beatrice Allen, although there
were some stumbles throughout her portrayal, it remained relatively
strong. She gave the troubled teenager a depth that allowed us to see
her journey through stubbornly thinking of always being right, to
learning from Honey Man and eventually seeing eye to eye. In today’s modern world, it is easy for us all to
get lost in the confines of our own busy lives, riddled with technology
and overruled with all things digital. Huggins teaches us to listen to
the world around us and ‘do good things’. Huggins presents the view that
history, culture and nature are happening now, and it is only us as
humans who have the power to protect it in order to live in harmony. To
21-02-15 Elizabeth Halpin
18-02-15
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