A bug’s life

Attention all bugs! Please come to the living room wall promptly for the last ever gig before fumigation! Two ladybug celebrities Bauble and Skump will perform some of their greatest whimsical musical comedy hits for all the lucky bugs in the house at BATS Theatre between the 25^th and 29^th of August (antennae provided).

Bug Songs Not Love Songs creators Lia Kelly and Phoebe Caldeiro initially wanted to create a show about themselves and their connection to their identity (as humans), “but then got sidetracked imagining [themselves] as those crane flies that hang out on the wall.”

The further they delved into bug life, the more they realised it serves as a metaphor for experiencing prejudice and being othered, but also for finding resilience through community.

“We also found there's an endless amount of bug puns to be made about famous pop singers.”

Through 10 original songs, including Praying Mantis Wedding, Questions for Humans, and Bugs Find a Way, the bug forms of Lia and Phoebe tell the stories of queer and racial identity, and uncover the constant strength needed to survive at the bottom of the food chain.

“Overall, making the show about bugs gave our story ideas a huge lift because it felt like we could inject our big feelings around how we exist in the world into something that everyone knows.”

Directed by award-winning comedian Alayne Dick, this comedy hour delivers a lifetime of earworms (pun intended).