Hope Theatre Arts hosted its fifth annual space-themed presentation that included a bees-in-space-themed story that was acted out along with three separate activities to teach children about teamwork, positive reinforcement, and communication at the Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Library on Sunday afternoon.
The book was called “Buzz to the Stars: The Bee Ship Adventure,” by Steven Binns, who is also the director of the event and a board member for Hope Theatre Arts.
The three activities were throwing a ball into a basket, a hula hoop game where people form a circle and pass a hula hoop through their body to pass to the next person, and a team-building game in which people stand on wooden skis and work together to move them.
Binns said that, during last year’s event, he struggled to find a new story that involved all the things he wanted to teach the children.
“I couldn’t find any book that included communication, unity, togetherness. It was always about a single animal or a person in space and they were triumphant. I wanted to include everybody,” Binns said. “And so that’s why I wrote the book. Because I said, ‘I can’t find any more books. I’m looking on Amazon. I’m checking everywhere else, but none of them had all the things that I wanted.”
During the play, the actors kept saying to the crowd “believe in your buzz.” When asked what that motto means for Binns, he said that there is always a negative voice, but people should always go for it.
“For me, it’s … there’s a little voice inside all of us, right? And then there’s always a negative voice that says, ‘You can’t do it; you shouldn’t do it, or you’re going to fail.’ That’s what believe in your buzz means. Just go for it. Try your best. And even if you think you might fail, you’re going to learn something,” Binns said.
John Franklin, an actor in the play and board member of Hope Theatre Arts, said he loves performing children’s theater because the reactions are always authentic.
“The audience reaction is immediate and honest. I played villains where the kids are just ‘booing’ as you like, come out on stage. It’s just, I just, I love children’s theater and doing it here (with Hope Theatre Arts),” Franklin said.
Franklin added that these plays for children teach them values like resilience, teamwork and kindness.
“They are important core values, and the younger you get people to have empathy and to learn that it’s not just a solo person doing it,” Franklin said.
Franklin said that to him “believing in your buzz” means to believe in your spirit and to not let the naysayers say it is impossible to do things or that people cannot do them.
Families of all shapes and sizes attended the activities.
Carly Mayers brought her daughter, Sunava, 5, to support Binns.
“They just said that they did a children’s book, and I have a child, so it just made sense to support both ends,” Mayers said.
She added that she loved that the event was interactive and had games for her daughter to play with other children.
April Alvarez said that she loved that her daughter, Charlie, 4, was able to enjoy the story and have fun.
“It felt great. You know, seeing my kid really into this story and being able to see adults being kids, acting like bees. I think that’s important because sometimes adults forget that it’s OK to have fun and be silly. It’s a great model for the kids and it makes me happy,” Alvarez said.
After the play and the games were over, children got the opportunity to take photos with the actors and enjoy some “space food” like freeze-dried treats and candy.
