THE SPYMONKEY DIRECTING TEAM
Spymonkey earned their reputation creating and performing some of the funniest theatre in the world over the last 3 decades, delighting audiences from the West End to Las Vegas, Just For Laughs Montreal to the Sydney Opera House. Over the last decade artistic directors Toby Park and Aitor Basauri have established themselves as a directing team with a distinctive vision, translating their distinctive Theatre of the Funny methodology to a number of major international stages.
Recent acclaimed directing work includes:
★ Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at Volksoper Vienna (2026) [link]
★ Offenbach’s ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ (2023, ’24, ’25) at Volksoper Vienna [link]
★ ‘For The Love Of Electricity’ (2025) at National Theatre of Finland, Helsinki [link]
★ Spymonkey’s ‘Hairy’ (2023) at Polka Theatre London [link]
PHYSICAL COMEDY & CONSULTANCY
Toby and Aitor are sought-after physical comedy directors and consultants. Work includes:
★ ‘Hello, Dolly!’ starring Imelda Staunton at the London Palladium (dir. Dominic Cooke 2024)
★ ‘Jack Absolute Flies Again’ (dir. Emily Burns 2022) at the National Theatre London
★ ‘Tartuffe’ (dir. Blanche MacIntyre 2019) at the National Theatre London
★ ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ (dir. Fiona Laird 2018) at Royal Shakespeare Company
★ ‘Mack & Mabel’ (dir. Jonathan Church 2015) starring Michael Ball at Chichester Festival Theatre
THEATRE OF THE FUNNY
Spymonkey have an international reputation as teachers of Clown, Physical Comedy, music comedy and devising, regularly hosting sell-out professional training programmes in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Bilbao and London.
Current training programme schedule is here.
You can read our Theatre of the Funny manifesto here.
PRESS
★★★★★ “Superbly crafted and delightfully entertaining production: a stroke of genius” Die Presse on ‘Pirates of Penzance’
★★★★★ “Hard to remember the last time we had so much fun. Hilariously funny turbo-charged wit.” Kurier on ‘Pirates of Penzance’
★★★★★ “‘The Pirates of Penzance’ take Vienna by storm! Delightful. Lovingly rendered.” Kronen Zeitung on ‘Pirates of Penzance’
★★★★★ “Spymonkey at the helm of this vibrant, tongue-in-cheek comedy battleship… A veritable hit” vol.at on ‘Pirates of Penzance’
★★★★★ “Spymonkey, alias directors Aitor Basauri and Toby Park, pull off a balancing act between exuberant slapstick and astute social commentary… You just have to look at Shakespeare and Monty Python to know that the British can do both theatre and satire like no other nation. Spymonkey can do both.” Der Standard on ‘Pirates of Penzance’
★★★★ “One of the most ingenious kids’ shows around right now…you’d be mad to miss it”
The Stage on ‘Hairy’
★★★★ “Joyously out there kids’ show about a group of bickering hair follicles from stage comedy legends Spymonkey.
★★★★★ “About as improving as a bag of sweets, it’s a gloriously anarchic break from the long trudge of the summer hols, and as much a treat for weary parents as twitchy kids.”
Time Out on ‘Hairy’