Secret Agent Man
Matt is a former secret agent who is determined to live a normal life after he was nearly blown up on his last mission. But then he finds out that his new life has been compromised and agents from around the world want him dead. He has to stay alive, capture assassin after assassin, and keep his buddies from getting killed, all while trying to figure out who blew his cover and actually wants him eliminated. The show has seven parts where the actor gets a great scene, gets to do a comic fight with the hero, and then is finished, making it perfect for cameos or people with limited rehearsal time. The show does lean heavily on the actor who plays Matt as he’s on stage for most of the show and is in all seven of the comic fight scenes.
Productions
Behind The Scenes
With Tony Howell
What inspired you to write this play?
A student of mine came up to me one day and said I should write a show about a secret agent who is getting out of the spying game and living with some old buddies, but assassins keep showing up to kill him and he has to take them out while trying to keep his friends in the dark. I normally don’t use ideas from other people because I have so many of my own, but that idea stayed with me for a couple of years. Then one weekend I sat down and started playing around with the various assassins that could be used and ended up writing the first draft of the entire show in just forty-eight hours. I knew then it was a great idea when it just flowed onto the page like that.
What's your favorite part or line in the play? Why?
I love the confession scene at the beginning of ACT II when Matt finally has to tell his buddies the truth, but my favorite part was always Mr. G’s second entrance. The three guys who played Matt, Ace and Sloth are among my favorite actors to work with, and so I played the part of Mr. G and I just loved being on stage with those guys and finally getting to act opposite of them. I do think Mr. G (or Mrs. G) is a role where it’s great fun to put a principal or parent or especially the director in the part.
Where did the characters come from? Are they based on people you know?
They are not people I know, of course, unless you count all the spy movies I’ve watched over the years. It was great fun spoofing that world and coming up with crazy characters and crazy methods of assassination. It was also a blast for the students to get to play parts like that.
What did you try to achieve with this play?
We wanted this show to be a real action comedy, so the seven fight scenes should be considered a major part of the production. Keeping them a bit lengthy and creative and allowing the actors to help create their own fights was a major part of the fun. Watching plenty of Jackie Chan movies might be a real help to figuring out the mood of your fights. His creativity in coming up with attacks and defenses is the very thing we tried to achieve in the original production.
Do you have anything else you'd like to add?
I was lucky to have 3 male actors who had great chemistry and were athletic and physical. We were able to take advantage of that and put together some great fight scenes which the audience really enjoyed. I would say that on top of that, the part of Matt really has to carry the show, but if you have a strong actor who can be physical then this show will give him the chance to really show off.