Review: SCOUTS! THE MUSICAL, Upstairs At The Gatehouse

“There really is a badge for everything!”

Growing up in the States, the Girl Scouts were a major part of my childhood. I spent the summers going on biking trips and exploring the wilderness at Camp Tweedale, a summer camp out in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. As soon as I heard about Scouts! The Musical, written by Sam Cochrane (Book and Lyrics) and David Fallon (Music and Lyrics), I knew I wanted to see it and learn more about what it’s like to be a Scout across the pond.

The show, directed by one of the writers, Cochrane, is a collaboration between Gigglemug, a comedy company founded in 2018 by Warwick University students, and The Scout Association, who have been working together since 2019. After an initial run at The Other Palace in 2023, the show is now out on tour, stopping in Birmingham, Manchester, London and Bath.

Scout Leader Dylan is hosting the Annual Scout Games (which, disappointingly, don't actually exist!), where Scouts from around the world travel to in order to compete in a range of different tasks, with one winner receiving the Gold Badge. Audience members are introduced to Eliza (Eleanor Fransch), a young girl who is determined to win no matter what, and Joe (Burhan Kathawala), who is just there to make friends and follow in the footsteps of his Scout hero, Linus Lionheart (Rob Gathercole, who is also the Musical Director).

However, things are not as they seem, as one of the Scouts, known by “Fay Kename” (Emily Kitchingham), soon reveals herself to be Charlotte, an infamous Scout from 1999 who lost the Grand Final of the Annual Scout Games to Linus Lionheart himself after failing to hypnotise the Scout Leader. This leads to the Hypnotism Badge being banned from the Scouts and to Charlotte’s path to revenge, in which she hypnotises one of the competitors, Rosie (Katie Pritchard) in order to obtain the Gold Badge for herself. 

While the characters in Scouts! The Musical may be taking the plot seriously, viewing the Scout Games as life-or-death, the show itself is very silly, made for audiences of all ages to enjoy. Charlotte performs her hypnotism using the “Trance Dance,” a “Time Warp"-esque number that has the audience dancing in their seats. There is also a great number in which the hypnotised Rosie and John (Gathercole) rap about all of the bad things they will do (“The Bad Badge”), with one of the things being giving a bad review to a new musical - the most evil thing of all! Another highlight is how easily the characters break the fourth wall, including the character of the Narrator (Heather Gourdie) appearing at several times, much to the confusion of those on stage.

All of the performers are incredibly talented actor-musos, not only playing characters but accompanying the show with live music - with some playing two instruments at once! There are several times when it is difficult to hear the singers (and therefore the lyrics) over the instruments, especially the drums, so I might have missed some lyrics in the songs. Along with the performers, there are also several audience members invited on stage to participate in the Scout Games themselves, leading to some fun interactions with some actual Scouts in the audience!

The songs are quite varied but are all great, with my particularly favourite being “Mother Nature,” in which Linus Lionheart sings about his love for nature, including a hilariously long pause to admire a fungus. The set, designed by Lauren Jones, Iza Fordham, Emily Cave, Aleyna Feran, Abbie Harcastle and Ema Cunha is quite simple, (which makes me wonder why there are six credited designers, though I wonder if this is credit for the sets for all of its runs), with three banners hanging on the back wall, a few stumps of wood and, of course, the instruments front and centre, allowing the performers to move back and forth between playing and acting.

Scouts! The Musical is a heartfelt, silly and sweet tribute to the Scout Association as well as a quality musical about finding your place in the world. Gigglemug are a talented group with StarKid-like qualities who have the unique ability to make shows that are truly appealing to all ages - not just adults or children. I would love to see Scouts! be performed in some outdoors spaces, maybe even at a Scout camp site!

Scouts! The Musical ran from 18 - 22 June at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in London. It will then run from 26 - 29 June at The Egg Theatre in Bath.