Sheet Music Reviews: Primary musicals

Treachery at Traitors' Quay

Mary Green and Julie Stanley Out of the Ark, £39.95/£59.75 (with annual performance licence)

The Tale of 3 Trees

Ann Beresford Out of the Ark, £18.95/£30.95 (with annual performance licence)

Mary Green and Julie Stanley's Treachery at Traitors’ Quay tells the story of the five Dawson children, who find themselves evacuated from London to a seaside town, billeted to the large home of Eggin-Drake, the (fictional) Minister of Information. But it appears a spy is in their midst…

There are ample parts for children – up to 43 speaking parts in total – and the historical setting provides a lot to engage children and colleagues alike. Although the Second World War doesn't explicitly appear on the national curriculum until KS3, the KS2 curriculum does require ‘study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066’ – and the British values agenda requires schools to promote age-appropriate material ‘on the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy, and how democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries’. This play begins with the direction ‘Churchill comes on stage’ (who would play your Churchill?) before a scene of evacuations from Paddington station: a juicy part with rich historical context, and no mistake.

Musical numbers include the touching ‘Letters’, a ballad sung between evacuated children and their mothers, back in London among the bombs (and taking on their husbands’ jobs); the dramatic ‘Spying on the Spy’ (‘We will catch that nosey Parker/Wait till it gets darker’); and the round-the-Joanna ‘Go Home Hitler’, complete with whistled middle verse (and a nice rhyme in ‘Go home, Hitler/We won't miss yer’, which somehow suggests at the ribaldry of other, less age-appropriate songs from the time).

The final number, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ makes a virtue of stoicism, keeping the home fires burning and so on – complete with a key change, naturally, and a neat descant part – which would make a sweetly rousing finale.

Additional tracks include a cockney-sparrow rendition of ‘Jam Tomorrow’, an air-raid siren and guard's whistle (both of which could come in handy outside the confines of this production), and a track of seaside sounds – gulls, waves, cockles and mussels.

Ann Beresford's The Tale of 3 Trees, based on the Christian folktale, has an altogether more pastoral feel, with acoustic guitar to the forefront – although less harmonically folky than musical-ballad.

The winning ‘Woodcutters’ Song’, with its chants of ‘Chop! Chop! Hack Hack! TIMBERRRR!’, choreographs itself, and ‘I'm so disappointed’ has an ear-wormy chorus thanks to its triple-time cross-rhythm and simple three-part harmony. Closing number ‘I Could Never Have Imagined’ hits the spot with a calm, endof-the-line ballad (teachers considering this piece should prepare for the unavoidably gruesome image of Christ being nailed to beams made from one of our three trees – and the requirement to enact a crucifixion on-stage).

At the heart of this story is the idea that each person has their own part to play in the world: and what would the world be like if we were all the same? The book comes with teaching ideas based on this theme, including suggested tasks on children's hopes and dreams, asking them to envisage possible future careers, making boats and treasure chests, and considering how we deal with and bounce back from disappointments in life.

This is absolutely an Easter production, and church schools, church groups and those looking for assembly fodder will find a lot to like here: the music is effective, and the central message is one perhaps less-often explored theme from Christianity – and certainly a positive one for children of this age group. Overall, it's as sweet a 25-minute KS2 Passion Play as you're going to get.

Both musicals come with useful audio and words-on-screen resources, including full recordings (featuring the Out of the Ark Choir), and backing tracks for each number. Each has full cast lists with casting notes, costume and prop suggestions, as well as directions on how to reduce or increase the number of parts involved to suit your resources.

outoftheark.co.uk