Full of witty, colourful fun, ‘The Zany Zoo’ is the perfect primary school leavers' show, having excellent music and a great message about celebrating diversity and individuality. There is a wonderful array of entertaining cameo parts to include plenty of performers, making this show ideal for a large cast.  

Zack’s Zoo is due to open, but he refuses to open the gates to the public until all the animals have passed their SATs - the Standard Animal Tests! The animals, meanwhile, are behaving in far from ‘standard’ ways – and some of them are downright wacky!  

Tired of waiting for the zoo to open, Joe Public and his friends stage a protest. To prove his point, Zack lets the ‘Publics’ in to observe the testing process - but Joe and his friends love the quirky animals just as they are and think this is the best zoo ever. Zack begins to see his creatures through their eyes and he stops trying to standardise them.  He even apologises for not appreciating their individuality, and declares: ‘The Zany Zoo is opening right now!’

Author: Martin Neill, Ruth Kenward

Age guide: 7 to 12

Running time: 55 mins - perf. licence required

No. of songs: 10

Suggested cast size: 30 to 60+ (minimum 24 with doubling)

(13 main characters, 17+ other speaking roles and several non-speaking and ad lib roles, plus a few easy lines for the whole chorus to deliver as ‘All’)

"Outstanding! Our year 5 & 6 pupils loved performing this show. The story was funny & easy to understand, the songs were brilliant - very catchy & upbeat; a particular favourite was the jazzy song, 'The Veggie Alligator.' The show is easy to stage with plenty of parts for all abilities. We've had a wonderful experience, not to mention great fun, staging the Zany Zoo. Highly recommended!"  
-  K Porter, Teacher, Sussex.