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A DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE TITLE
Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 4w, 1 any gender (adult)
Kate Douglas
It’s 2044. Bees are extinct, only kept alive inside synthetic apiaries where they live in perpetual spring. And begin to crave flesh. As the bees begin to thrive, lab assistants Zora and Pilar must satiate their new appetites.
Zora is overqualified for her new job at the lab, but she’s there because she loves bees – or what is left of them, as it has been years since bees produced honey or pollinated certain fruits and flowers. Her sweet coworker, Pilar, and stressed supervisor, Gwen, have learned to keep their heads and budgets down so their research doesn't get discontinued. Zora, however, doesn’t mind spending her own time and money to try to rehabilitate the bee population. When an unfortunate incident in the lab leads to a boost in the bees’ numbers, Zora and Gwen have to decide just how far they’re willing to go to keep the population growing. An unsettling and sharp-witted cautionary tale, The Apiary warns that the key to protecting each other and the planet is right in front of us, if only we would listen.
Read more about the show on Breaking Character.
The Apiary premiered off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater in February 2024. Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the production featured Nimene Wureh, April Matthis, Carmen M. Herlihy, Taylor Schilling and Stephanie Crousillat.
CECE/KARA/ANNA/BRYN ZORA PILAR GWEN THE BEES
The bees are a character in this show. They are not wallpaper. The bees’ presence – and health – must be represented throughout the play. We should see them as literal honeybees when we are in “human time,” but the interludes in “bee time” are a more theatrical representation of their experience that is zoomed in, slowed down, and deeply visceral.
A synthetic apiary. Twenty-two years in the future.
“Call it Little Hive of Horrors… a bright, strange and mesmerizing marvel.” – The New York Times
“The 75-minute play is quirky and dark and will leave you feeling appreciative for life and honey.” – New York Theatre Guide
“[The Apiary] by Kate Douglas… could have fit in nicely in Rod Serling’s classic series [The Twilight Zone], thanks to its vaguely futuristic setting and blending of sci-fi and horror.” – New York Stage Review
ON BREAKING CHARACTER
Listen to the Bees: Kate Douglas Discusses Her Play The ApiaryBy Rosalind Jackson Roe31 March 2026
An Interview With Douglas – Eugene O’Neill Theatre
The Apiary – Why This Play? with Second Stage Theater
The Apiary – New Village Arts Trailer
The Apiary – An Inside Look with Urbanite Theatre
Kate Douglas is a writer, composer, and performer. Recent work includes Tulipa (New York Stage & Film), Hag with Grace McLean (Vivace Award), The Ninth Hour starring opposite her co-writer Shayfer James (The Met Cloisters), and The Lucky Few starring opposite her co-writer To ...