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Spymonkey

SPYMONKEY

  
Nationality:    British
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

Brighton-based Spymonkey first met in Zurich, Switzerland in 1997 whilst performing with action Theatre company Karls Kuhne Gassenschau. Spymonkey founders, Petra Massey, Toby Park and Aitor Basauri. Performers and Co-creators, Stephan Kriess, Petra Massey, Toby Park and Aitor Basauri. Cal McCrystal, Director and Co-creator. Lucy Bradridge, Designer. Kathy Bourne, Manager.

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below is a list of Spymonkey's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Bless         Cooped         Jekyll and Hyde         Love In         Moby Dick         Morris Dancers, The         Mrs Hudson's Christmas Corker         Oedipussy         Spymonkey         Stiff. . . Undertaking Undertaking         Whale
Bless

Synopsis:
Bless is a clownesque vision of childhood tales of the lives of saints: stories rich in naive morality and sentimentality, epic lives and terrible deaths, supernatural events and elaborate visions, illuminated by Spymonkey's innocently outrageous physical comedy. Dickensian saints, French peasant saints and medieval levitating saints jockey for position in the canon. Spymonkey create their shows through a process of devising, improvising and collective writing, and draw on verbal play, slapstick, song, animatronics, dance, puppet and illusion to make a unique style of performance.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Devised physical comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cooped

Synopsis:
A misty night. A young girl arrives at a remote railway station in the heart of darkest Northumberlandshirehampton to take up her position as confidential secretary to the reclusive Forbes Murdston. She has ignored for as long as she can the unsettling rumours that surround her new employer, his ominous manservant Klaus and the ancient stone house. But Murdston's violent moodswings can only signify one thing: INSANITY! Her terrible dreams seem to warn of some impending calamity. If only she could get word to Inspector Judadench to warn him. In her desperation she turns to the trusty family lawyer Roger Parchment. But how can she leave Forbes now, now that he is so close to finishing his memoirs? How can she leave him when she has grown to love him? Yes, now. . . now she is truly. . . COOPED!

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Komedia Brighton     2001

Organisations:
Spymonkey

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Devised physical comedy Piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Jekyll and Hyde

Synopsis:
Experience Jekyll and Hyde with a difference

Notes:
the production has been created in conjunction with Spymonkey And Peepolykus And is directed by Sean Holmes And written by Joel Horwood.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Lyric Hammersmith

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
theatrical extravagANZa

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Love In

Synopsis:
Cabaret featuring a pole-dancing Joan of Arc, Jacques Cousteau on acid, a mermaid who can't get up the duff and tantric ping-pong balls. A new show from the international comedy sensation that Vegas couldn't tame, last seen in their sell-out stage hits Spymonkey's Moby Dick and Cooped.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Brighton:The Old Market     26 May 2011

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Moby Dick

Synopsis:
It's shorter than the book, its funnier than the book, its's got more visual gags, ventriloquist's dolls, disco dancing sea creatures and singing mermaid mastheads than the book.
- Dominic maxwell, the Times

Notes:
Play By Jos Houben from novel by Melville

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Spymonkey

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Morris Dancers, The

Synopsis:
Spymonkey's Toby Park and Petra Massey present their own husband and wife Morris Dancing extravaganza complete with songs, sticks and dancing cow. Spymonkey's award-winning brand of comedy is overflowing with brilliant characters, outrageous naughtiness and a delightful lack of respect for theatrical convention.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Devised physical comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mrs Hudson's Christmas Corker

Synopsis:
Set in the kitchen of the celebrated 221B Baker Street, this riotous production contrasts the minutiae of a landlady's daily domestic routine with the grand opera of Conan Doyle's Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. Discover the tale of what really happens below stairs in an affectionate yet hilarious take on the Holmes legend, using music hall routines, tatty magicians, cod ventriloquists, lady boxers and perhaps even a death defying finale worthy of Moriarty himself! Mulled wine and Christmas trees come as standard.

Notes:
Created by actor & writer, Bob Cryer, with his veteran comedy writer father, Barry, and in collaboration with the ultra talented Spymonkey company, all deftly wrapped up with a ribbon by director Ed Gaughan.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
spymonkey

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Christmas comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Oedipussy

Synopsis:
an outrageous no-holds barred subversion of the quintessential Greek tragedy - a tale of forbidden lust, accidental incest, violent murder and the ultimate dysfunctional family.

Notes:
adaptation by Emma Rice, written by Spymonkey AndCarl Grose

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Royal & Derngate, Northampton co-production with Spymonkey

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
physical comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Spymonkey

Synopsis:
Meanwhile the four performers wander off at various ghostly tangents in the near blacked-out splendour of their surroundings. Using back-projected imagery they descend into a mummy's vault, not forgetting to include a sand dance sequence; bloodily impale themselves, or sever limbswith audience participation naturallyand wind it all up with an even more horrific Abigail's Party piece than the original play. Not all of it works, but that is part of its shlock-horror appeal. - British theatre Guide

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Baronial Hall, Winter Gardens, Blackpool     15 Feb 2013

Organisations:
Spymonkey

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stiff. . . Undertaking Undertaking

Synopsis:
Forbes Murdston, the great tragedian, has suffered writer's block for years. But now at last he has his own personal tragedy to draw upon. After the loss of his wife Morag, he is driven to express the depths of his sorrow by gathering around him an enthusiastic (but totally incompetent) troupe of actors to produce a moving tribute to his dear, departed love. Mr Keller the embalmer, Alfredo Graves the pall-bearer and Mandy Bandy the make-up artiste are determined to make a night of it.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Komedia Brighton     1998

Organisations:
Spymonkey

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Devised physical comedy Piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Whale

Synopsis:
Four whalers have themselves been eaten by their quarry. The irony! With the (im) patience of Jonah they await their disgorging. To amuse themselves they recount a story of Moby Dick, with their own flourishes. The novel's epic examination of good, evil, fate and obsession is lost on them. And then, mysteriously, found on them again. In this whale of a show there are barrels of comedy blubber, handy shanties, let's-get-jiggy jigs and the inevitable gatecrashers: a bitter and twisted Pinocchio used-to-wannabe, a cannibal harpoonist from Munich, L Wrong Hubbard, and four Ahabs destined for the West End. Ann unreliable version of Moby Dick created with director Jos Houben. Combining the formality of British traditional theatre with a European approach to clowning and stage anarchy, Spymonkey shows are full on, fast-paced and hilarious.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Chichester: The Showroom     23 Apr 2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Devised physical comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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