A fun-packed comedy spy musical in one act by Barbara Hockley & Greg Swinford
A school leavers gala musical that is a HUGE and WONDERFUL HIT SHOW – and the cast have a FANTASTIC TIME!
SPY SCHOOL BASICS
- Written as a school leavers gala musical – but perform whenever you like!
- An original musical in one act written for 10-12 year olds.
- Also great for older children (see what you think).
- KS2, KS3.
- Heaps of larger-than-life parts (mostly spies).
- Everyone gets to be involved.
- Fantastic company songs, a heart-breaking rookies song and one rap solo.
- Dance numbers to suit.
- Super easy to stage.
- Cast size 16 – 30.
- Running time around 50 minutes.
- Fast moving, finny and a great excuse for disguises, trilbies and cool made-up gadgets.
- You need this musical on your stage!
What is Spy School all about?
It was originally written with inspiration from a year 6 class for their school leavers’ gala musical – a tradition. I was leaning towards pirates – but the class definitely wanted spies. And so it was. The plot concerns three rookie spies arriving at Spy School for their first day of training. For absolutely no good reason at all (we’ll put it down to first day nerves…), one of the rookies announces to the assembled spies, and the Head of Spy School, that they are ready to show their worth by completing a mission on their first day. Father Christmas (the Boss) challenges them to discover the whereabouts of the mysterious ‘Seventh Department’ – by lunchtime.
After a brief, and fairly silly, training session our rookies are totally unprepared and a little disheartened. They do, however, have a lot of gadgets and disguises to deploy – and help comes from an unexpected place (as it always does).
Spy School Writer & Composer...
Book & Lyrics by Barbara Hockley
Music by Greg Swinford
Greg is Head of Academic Music at Kings School in Canterbury.
At some point in the past when Greg & Barbara were both involved with the local youth theatre and teaching in local schools, they wrote a couple of musicals together. One based on Alice in Wonderland & the other – Spy School.
You can listen to the music below via Soundcloud.
Listen to the songs - demo vocals by Greg Swinford
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- Spies: Company
The opening and closing track for the whole company. This is a BIG Bond-esque number. - Pie in the Sky : Spies
The training song. Involves a lot of demonstrations & silliness. - In Too Deep: Rookies
The Rookies realise their mistake. A beautiful song from the depths of despair. - Guarding the Clues: Spies
The Spies try to outwit the Rookies… Tango anyone? Lots of action at the end without words (in case you wondered).
Notes on characters and casting
As with all plays (here at least) you can cast to suit your gender needs. All parts can be played by anyone – even Father Christmas (it’s a code name only). Please DO NOT change any names – they are all very carefully created – as you will note!
Each Agent has to display the required characteristics and skills relating to their department (way too much fun to be had).
If you have more or less than 24 in your cast, you can combine agents (within the department) for fewer parts, or add extra agents and either share lines or have a few non-speaking roles. In my experience there are always those who prefer not to have lines! They can still sing, dance and have fun.
CHARACTERS
Note: Everyone has a code name linked to their ‘department’ or status. There are 6 departments (the 7th is secret).
THE ROOKIES:
Bogbean
Foxglove
Milkweed
TOP SPIES:
Father Christmas – top spy, very authoritative.
Easter Bunny – 2nd in command. Super efficient and clever.
Snax – The tea and snacks person (actually from the secret dept. of undercover agents). Very cool top secret spy.
1. DEPARTMENT of GEEKY GADGETS:
Agent Gizmo
Agent Gubbins
Agent Gimmick
2. DEPARTMENT of COOL POSING:
Agent Prairie Dog
Agent Penguin
Agent Peacock
3. DEPARTMENT of SNEAKING-LIKE-A-SHEEP
Agent Prowls-like-a-Pigeon
Agent Creeps-like-a-Crab
Agent Lurks-like-a-Lizard
4. DEPARTMENT of CUNNING DISGUISES
Agent Garbo
Agent Wiglet
Agent Fancy
5. DEPARTMENT FOR THE PREVENTION OF ALIEN SPECIES TAKING OVER THE WORLD:
Agent Eeep
Agent Burrp
Agent Zigzig
6. DEPARTMENT of THE COOKIE CRUMBLES AT NOON:
Agent The Jelly has Set
Agent The Toast has Landed
Agent The Teapot is in the Nest
REVIEWS
Wow! Our big problem now is how to follow it! Our Year 6 children loved Spy School. The idea of a school for spies but with spies who were not all of the ‘James Bond’ mould filled them with enthusiasm. The different groups of spies were identified both by movement, name and costume ensuring that each child had ‘their moment’- always important in a school production. The songs were great and the hauntingly beautiful ‘We’re in too deep’ soon became a firm favourite as did the opening ‘Spies’. A script full of characters including Father Christmas and Easter Bunny got everyone laughing from the first reading and ‘We’re on the case Easter Bunny’ remained a catch phrase for the summer (and beyond). The play is so well written, with a plot which ensures that everyone stays involved right through to the end. A fabulous musical play which we would have no hesitation in recommending; great script, wonderful songs and a running tine of about an hour – ideal as a school production. We can’t wait for Spy School – The Eighth Department.
Sally Handley, Brockhampton School, Herefordshire
Spy School is a delightful play for primary aged children, incorporating lots of good characters, some punchy songs (and one hauntingly sad one), and a simple plot with a nice twist at the end. Most of the cast are tutors at a school for secret agents, and a particular quality of this script is that every one not only has words to say, but an individual character to develop, which can be exploited to the best of each child’s ability. These are loosely based on gentle parodies of every spy tale ever created, from early cloak-and-dagger, through the trenchcoated shadies of the 1950s to modern tuxedo-clad Bond types, with gadget-wielding geeks, code crackers, the Men In Black, and a couple of science fiction robots thrown in for good measure.
The plot revolves around three rookie spies – the brash, the nervous and the sensible – on their first assignment, for which they are far from prepared. On the point of giving up they receive help from an unexpected source, and accidentally outwit all their tutors, much to the glee of the headmaster (codename: Father Christmas) and his deputy (Easter Bunny). Finally, they are caught in the Catch 22 situation that if they show how well they have succeeded, they will also show how unsuited they are to the School, a dilemma they ingeniously resolve to bring about a happy ending.
Hugh Farey, St Richard’s, Bedenbury
What's included?
The SCRIPT contains character, staging, props, costume & production notes.
The BACKING TRACKS have incidental music as well as the backing tracks.
PRACTISE TRACKS are recommended – they have guide vocals by Greg Swinford.
We do not provide a score – all you need is the backing track and someone to operate it!
Music files are in MP3 format and are sent in zip files – about 25 MB each.
How much does it cost?
More? Send me a message - I'll get back to you pronto!
