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PRIMARY "Being Bee" by Catherine Bateson - CBCA 2007 Short-Listed "Younger Reader's Book Of The Year" “Bully Bull Ring” Anti-Bullying Show SECONDARY
PRIMARY (Term 4 Only) (December Only)
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About the play: In the tradition of the sell-out shows "To The Light”, “Billy Mack's War", "Captain Mack", "Something's Fishy, Hazel Green!", “A Different Sort of Real”, "Tom Jones Saves The World” and "Stella By The Sea", Tony Bones Entertainment perform this highly entertaining younger reader's book as a new play in a variety of dramatic genre including naturalism, musical, narrative, and drama . The huge diversity of styles keeps the audience enthralled for the full 50 minutes and makes it appropriate to all students from Grade 3 right through to Year 8. This must see production is booking fast so be quick to secure your school a date with "Being Bee". About the book: “Bee was happy with just her & her father. They were a team, slightly bumbling & inefficient but a team nonetheless. So when practical, tidy Jazzi became a fixture in their lives Bee was not very impressed. She was even less impressed by her father’s shift in attention” "…You are going to be pleasant and helpful, Bee, and not chase Jazzi away. I like Jazzi. I want her to be a permanent fixture in our lives and I don’t want any bratty, selfish behaviour from you spoiling things…” YARA online: "When Jazzi picks Bee up from school Bee’s feelings towards Jazzi change. Jazzi tells Bee that she has an autistic brother called Harley. Jazzi always visits Harley at least once a week and she is a bit embarrassed by him. But from the moment that Bee meets Harley he likes her. Jazzi and Bee start to warm to each other and become friends but when Jazzi is allowed to have the spare bedroom as a craft room she clears it out with permission from Bee’s dad. But Jazzi didn’t notice that there was a box of Bee’s things from when Bee’s mother was alive. Bee gets very upset and then runs away, and then things get complicated. This book is very detailed and I would recommend it for anyone 12+. It was very interesting." Kieren, aged 14, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia "Being Bee is the sad story of a young girl whose mother died and since it has been just her and her father but then Jazzy came along and that has sent her world upside down. Abandoned by her few friends, Bee only has one person to turn to, her nanna and her two guinea-pigs; even her dad is too distant to reach. CMIS Evaluation Shortlist CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers, 2007 Paperback Novel. This heart-warming story about love, friendship, vulnerability, openness and truth will resonate with readers, especially girls. Bateson explores the fears and difficulties experienced by people with mental illness and those who love them as well as the universal themes of acceptance and identity. Since the death of her mother, Bee and her father and Bee's two guinea pigs have lived comfortably together. Then Dad introduces his girlfriend Jazzi to the household and Bee's predictable world changes. She reveals her fears and feelings about her changing circumstances in letters to her pets. One day Bee learns that Jazzi has secrets too. She has a brother who no one knows about because he has an intellectual disability. Together Jazzi and Bee visit Harley and Bee begins to understand that there is more to Jazzi than meets the eye. Target audience - Primary Fiction 2007 MC Topical Subject - Girls - Fiction. Topical Subject - Step-parents and stepchildren - Fiction. Topical Subject - Single-parent families - Fiction. CMIS Topic - 2007 CBCA Notable: Younger Readers CMIS Topic - Girls' Reads Phase of Development - Middle Childhood Learning Area - Health and Physical Education Learning Area - English Outcomes - Interpersonal Skills [H&PE] Outcomes - Knowledge and Understandings [H&PE] Outcomes - Contextual Understandings [English] Outcomes - Reading [English] About the author - web research:
Awards won by Catherine Bateson include:
Flemington Primary School, VIC “Very enjoyable. Very good performance. Professionally presented and pertinent to certain students living/family situations. The number of tears in the audience was an indication of how well the story touched the students. Students were very engaged...All comments from the children were positive. Students were excited by the characters and were keen to discuss the relationships acted out between each character. Some students were obviously touched by the emotions openly displayed by each of the characters. The visit by Tony Bones Entertainment was timely, as our unit of study this term (3) is theatre.”
Kalinda Primary, Ringood, VIC “Really enjoyed the show. Was clear in its representation of some confronting issues. Really enjoyed the duet between the girls. Liked the break-down at the end...Allows us to enter into the issues that every child faces, we read the book and had a fantastic discussion above family structure...The characters had heart and cleverly avoided stereotype but were still clear and “simple” to understand...Great to see dramatization after we had read the book. Wonderful light and shade to engage students. Explanation at end most helpful to understandings.”
St Marcartan’s Primary School, VIC “Excellent story-telling! I was really enthralled as were the students. Very age-appropriate and relating well to their experiences of families. Students who are in this very position were glowing with the links you make to their situations...Excellent play that captured the attention of the students and told the story very well. The chance for the children to ask questions was also worthwhile and added to the experience...An excellent play that covers many themes. The characters of the story were played/portrayed extremely well. The play generated excellent classroom discussion afterwards. Thank you.”
Glen Katherine Primary School, Eltham, VIC "Student comment: ‘Your play was amazing! You were amazing! Have you ever thought of going on Australian Idol? You are really good singers.’ Well presented and covered issues sensitively...Fabulous! The play was really good because it showed that everybody has problems of their own. The singing was great and everybody thought ‘Sally’ was funny!...Enjoyed by all. Dealt with real life issues, humourous and great acting...Enjoyed by the whole grade. Harley portrayed really well. The content in the play was relevant to this age group...Some really important issues that our students have to deal with involving families. Children really enjoyed the book and also the portrayal of Harley.”
Greenacre Public School, NSW "The play was very well done, particularly the balance between the spoken script and song. The message of the book was communicated clearly in a manner that all students could identify with. Giving the students an opportunity to ask questions was fantastic as it allowed them to not only better understand the story, but also the process of how a play is put together...Good interpretation of the text. Songs worked well to break up play.”
Glen Eira College, VIC “The play explored the themes of grief and mental illness in a light and highly sympathetic manner. The actors were flexible and funny and the students enjoyed the performance. The play was spiced up with entertaining musical items. The actors studied well mannerisms and language of high-school students...Pacy, fast, visually entertaining. Great character performances...Great acting with minimal props. I enjoyed the character portrayals and the singing was fabulous...Excellent transition from character to character, engaging. Well done...Well performed and engaging, good coverage of the issues involved in the storyline.”
Caulfield Grammar School, Wheelers Hill Campus, VIC “This is the fifth year I have seen Tony Bones at various schools and as always, loved it! Both performances were of outstanding quality with brilliant acting and a purposeful message. I appreciate the value in questioning/reflective time at the end and love how my drama students have picked up on some of your theory about characterisation and prop use. Keep up the amazing work and can’t wait to see next year!”
Woodleigh School, Junior Campus, Frankston, VIC "You handled the issues in the book sensitively and appropriately for the age level. I really think that the children valued the debriefing at the end and again appreciated the Q and A time. Prompted interesting discussion in the classroom. Loved the costumes and the music.” Westmeadows Primary School, VIC “Very relevant to family life issues. Children all enjoyed it. Acting and singing was excellent...Some deeper thinking issues dealt with that would be relevant to a number of children. Also many of those themes link well with our ‘Bounce Back’ topics. Good mixture of emotions...Tremendous energy from all actors. Singing was fabulous – really strong voices…Well done!”
Kilbreda College, Mentone, VIC “Congratulations and thank you for an entertaining and thought-provoking performance. The feedback from the Year 7 girls was overwhelmingly positive and reflected their enjoyment and involvement in the show. The characters were portrayed strongly and the girls could relate to many of the issues explored in the text. The performance was amusing but sensitive and achieved a great balance. The theme of relationships can be both simple and complex and the students were able to discuss the many and varied friendships that they have with others. Most impressive was the inclusion of the mental health issue. This challenged many of the girls and they identified with some of the problems that can arise when people avoid situations. Many of the girls have been motivated to read the novel and it is fabulous to see the non-readers showing an interest in a particular book. We all loved the energy created by the characters and the combination of dialogue and singing worked effectively. In their Drama classes the girls have been working with minimum props and the concept of playing a variety of characters. Therefore your performance satisfied the VELS interdisciplinary component. Thank you – we all appreciated your work.” Flinders Christian College, Tyabb,VIC “I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The balance between humour and drama was excellent. The actors, costumes and sets were great. I enjoyed the way the actors involved the audience. The introduction of songs was an enjoyable surprise. I had read the novel but the production made me focus more clearly on the major themes. I thought Tony was excellent in his discussion of these themes at the end of the performance. He involved the children effortlessly. The College appreciated your sensitivity to the Christian school ethos in the presentation and follow-up discussion. The teams’ setting up and dismantling was very smooth and made it easy for the teachers. The sound microphones were great...The plot was very relevant to today’s society and the values taught were sound. A job well done!”
“The play was very professional and age-appropriate. The ideas presented in the performance are very real in some of our students’ lives. The students understood the content of the play and were able to join in discussion when returning to the classroom. All actors were professional and showed professional understanding of learning outcomes. The students are keen to see another Tony Bones production.”
“Thanks for such a great production. My class and I were really excited to discuss the story when we get back to class. We also discussed the issues raised especially about treating others the way we should. The variation in the production was great. We were impressed by the excellent standard and the professionalism of all the players. The girls’ voices were amazing. The kids said they should try out for “Idol”. Well done and thanks” Kew Primary School, Victoria
“The short time spent after the performance talking about the many themes was great - it helped the kids to think about mental illness in our community which was wonderful. I even heard from a Grade 3 (who had a Grade 6 sibling) that the book was about people with schizophrenia! Amazing what kids pick to take away from a play and talk about at home!”
Ringwood Heights Primary School, Victoria
“Thanks for last week's performances. Our staff and students loved them. Our older kids have seen your shows now since their Prep years and have learnt so much about the nature of performance as a means of story telling. The question time for all groups is really valuable.” Comments from schools in the Wallsend area, NSW “This production was excellent. The students were enthralled and totally involved. I felt the issues in the book were much more powerful when seen on stage…Staff were extremely professional and pleasant. Looking forward to hosting you again!” Araluen PS, Sale, Victoria “Excellent, excellent, excellent. The look on the children’s faces said it all. The questions they asked showed some depth too. A lot of children connected with the text in a very personal way that they wanted to share, and it was good for them to consider issues from another points of view/s. Acting etc – fantastic. The summary at the end was very effective – made more so by giving children stretching, movement activities first. A very good choice of text. Congratulations. Come again!”
Book titles performed in the past include:SHORT LISTED “BOOK OF THE YEAR” PICTURE BOOKS PERFORMED2006 "Irving the Magician" by Tohby Riddle2005 "At the Beach - Postcards from Crabby Spit" by Roland Harvey2004 "Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat" by Stephen Michael King 2003 "Bear and Chook" by Lisa Shanahan & Emma Quay2002 "Horrible Harriet" by Leigh Hobbs2001 "The Singing Hat" by Tohby RiddleSHORT LISTED “BOOK OF THE YEAR” YOUNGER READER’S BOOKS PERFORMED2006 "To The Light" by Pat Flynn2005 "Billy Mack's War" by James Roy2004 "Stella by the Sea” by Ruth Starke 2003 "Tom Jones Saves the World" by Steven Herrick 2002 "My Story - A Different Sort of Real, The Diary of Charlotte McKenzie, Melbourne, 1918" by Kerry Greenwood2001 "Something's Fishy, Hazel Green!" by Odo Hirsch2000 "Captain Mack" by James RoySHORT LISTED “BOOK OF THE YEAR” OLDER READER’S BOOKS PERFORMED2002 "When Dogs Cry" by Markus Zusak2001 "Touch Me" by James Moloney2000 "Tyro" by David McRobbieTestimonials for all these shows can be found by clicking on the following link: http://www.tonybones.com.au/school_shows/schoolshows_testimonials.html You can visit the CBCA at their website at www.cbc.org.au
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2007/08 Season
guest writer at many schools. Her work has been read on radio and featured on television. She has also appeared at various poetry and writers festivals throughout Australia.
eative writing as well as continuing to write her own poems and novels."