As the curtains drew back, the cafeteria was filled with excited children waiting for the start of the play “Ali’s Bees.” Citrus College history professor Bruce Solheim’s play taught
children the impact of bullying and usefulness of bees. The performance took place on May 25 at Edgewood Academy in La Puente.
Citrus College student veteran Marybeth Allen was the assistant director and narrator of the play. Some of the performers were Citrus College students, such as acting major Ricardo Estrada as the main character, Ali, Dave Miranda as the bully’s veteran father Mr. Hooper, and Vivien Roman as Ali’s Latina friend, Lupe.
The story follows a young Iraqi boy named Ali who has moved to America with his beekeeping grandfather after losing his parents in the Iraq War. There, he learns how to make friends, deal with bullies, and play baseball. Alie falls in love with the bees his grandfather takes care of.
During the play, the audience got to witness the characters of “Ali’s Bees” come to life as actors performed the first few scenes of the play.
Estrada did an excellent job in portraying the young, shy and humble Ali that definitely needed help with facing his bully, Jenks, portrayed by Citrus College 2015 graduate Ryan Joshua Lyle. Roman brought the laughs and Lupe’s character to life when she came on stage.
The children were shown the dangers of bullying through Jenks’ actions and how Ali diffused it with a simple act of kindness.
After the performance, Citrus College biology professor and honey bee scientist Kateri McKinney and Yusra Khafagi, a representative from the Council of American and Islamic Relations, spoke about the important roles of bees and the impact of bullying, respectably.
McKinney said she enjoys “Ali’s Bees” because it promotes
tolerance.
It teaches the viewers about being kind to those around you including plants and animals. She also said that she enjoys educating people on the importance of bees and will join Solheim and the cast for future performances. Solheim said the inspiration for writing “Ali’s Bees” came from a few different sources. When coaching a little league baseball team, he met a Middle Eastern boy who was having trouble with the sport.
“He was playing baseball, but didn’t understand how to play and some of the other boys decided that they were going to tease him,” Solheim said. “So I had to step and talk to them and after that everyone got along fine.”
As for Ali’s grandfather, Solheim explained that he never knew his own. So, he created the perfect image of what he thought would be a wise and funny grandfather for Ali.
In regards to the bees Solheim is highly allergic to them but understands their importance in taking care of the ecosystem.
“I started noticing that bees were dying everywhere I went,” Solheim said. “I found dead bees and I thought, ‘Is this just me or is there something going on?’ and I did some research and found out that sure enough there is.”
He said it is called Colony Collapse Disorder, which happens when a majority of worker bees disappear, leaving behind the queen and hive. If bees disappear, one-third of human’s
food supply will disappear with them.
Solheim said he hopes the play will make people understand the importance of bees, science, impact of bullying and much more.
Allen said the play also did a good job in covering the different problems seen in America today.
“It touched on the DACA program. It touched on PTSD,” Allen said. “It touched on bullying. I just love how it touches a little on the social problems
that we see.”
This was not the first performance of “Ali’s Bees” and Allen assured that it will not be the last one.
“Aside from the Edgewood performance, we’re also performing on June 7 in Pasadena library,” Allen said. They have sights to also perform at a couple of other elementary schools, such as Grace Miller Elementary, in the future.
