"Government & Citizenship: How Democracy Came to the Beehive" Musical Play by Bad Wolf Press
New!
    • 25-minute musical play for grades 1-5
    • Includes the script, teacher's guide, and audio recording (which contains a vocal and instrumental version of each song)
    • Simple to do - no music or drama experience needed!

    Queen Bee's announcement has the whole hive reeling: she's outta there! To take the sting out of her sudden flight, she's brought in consultants to help the hive decide on a new governmental model. Though terrified at first, our clever bees soon embrace the challenge and delve into the wonders of representative democracy.

    Please scroll down to read the script, listen to the songs, read reviews, and get all the details about the play (plot, curriculum/content, educational standards, and vocabulary).

    Item # Description Availability Qty Break Price Quantity
    PLAY - For individual teachers or directors
    Order 1 copy of play for each teacher/director who will be using it. Includes permission to print/photocopy for all participating actors. Mix and match 2 or more plays to get them for $35 each.
    GOVT-PL-DIG
    Downloadable Version of Play
    - You will receive a PDF and MP3 files
    Download 1
    2+
    $45.00
    $35.00
    GOVT-PL-PRI
    Printed Version of Play
    - You will receive a Spiral-Bound Book and Audio CD
    In Stock 1
    2+
    $45.00
    $35.00
    GOVT-PL-DUO
    Duo Version - Download AND Printed Book
    - You will receive 1) a PDF and MP3 files, and 2) a Spiral-Bound Book and Audio CD
    In Stock 1
    2+
    $55.00
    $45.00
    SITE LICENSE VERSION OF PLAY - For whole schools or grade levels
    Order 1 site license per school/site. Includes permission to print/photocopy for all participating students AND teachers. Why a site license? Because it's cheaper than ordering 3+ individual copies of the play.
    GOVT-SL-DIG
    Downloadable Version of Site License
    - You will receive a PDF and MP3 files
    Download 1 $90.00
    GOVT-SL-PRI
    Printed Version of Site License
    - You will receive 3 copies of the Spiral-Bound Book and Audio CD
    In Stock 1 $90.00
    Extra/Replacement Audio Recordings
    GOVT-AU-DIG
    Downloadable Audio Files
    - You will receive a ZIP file containing individual MP3s
    Download 1 $12.00
    GOVT-AU-PRI
    Audio CD
    In Stock 1 - 9
    10+
    $12.00
    $6.00
    GOVT-AU-DUO
    Downloadable Audio Files (MP3) + Audio CD
    In Stock 1 $20.00
    Sheet Music
    GOVT-MU-DIG
    Downloadable Sheet Music (PDF)
    Download 1 $12.00
    GOVT-MU-PRI
    Printed Sheet Music
    In Stock 1 $8.00
    GOVT-MU-DUO
    Downloadable Sheet Music (PDF) + Printed Sheet Music
    In Stock 1 $16.00

    $0.00



    Key Concepts

    Government & Citizenship reinforces students' familiarity with the following terms and concepts:

    • What does a government do and why do we need one? (insert jokes here)
    • Types of government (monarchy, dictatorship, direct democracy, representative democracy)
    • Constitutions and what they do
    • Three branches of government
    • Levels of government (federal, state, and local)
    • Function of local government (insert more jokes)
    • Good citizenship

    Government & Citizenship is a great complement to your curriculum resources in social studies. And, like all of our plays, this show can be used to improve reading, vocabulary, reading comprehension, performance and music skills, class camaraderie and teamwork, and numerous social skills that they are learning about in the play itself (read about it!) -- all while enabling students to be part of a truly fun and creative experience they will never forget!


    Publication Information

    Author: John Heath (Book and Lyrics) and Mike Fishell (Composer) and David Joshua Aaron (Composer)
    ISBN: 978-1-886588-64-6
    © 2015 Bad Wolf Press, LLC

    Song Samples


    Casting

    Flexible casting from 11-40 students. Use as many Bees, Attendants, Squirrels, etc. in each scene as desired. One student can easily play several roles if needed, and individual roles can be doubled up. Note that roles can be played by either boys or girls; see our comments in the Teacher's Guide.

    CHARACTERS:

    Bees
    Queen Bee
    Attendants (2)
    Bonnie Bee
    Billy Bee
    Betty Bee
    Spiders (2)
    Owls (3)
    3 Branches (of Government)
    Sparrow
    Bald Eagle
    Squirrels
    Announcer
    Students (2)
    Ants (3)

    and a CHORUS composed of all students who are not playing roles on stage at the time.

    Script

    (This is the first one-third of the script.)

    (BEES are buzzing around stage, very excited.)

    BEE #1: She's coming, she's coming!

    BEE #2: Hurry, hurry -- get the hive ready!

      Song 1 - Listen to a clip now!

    CLASS (sings):

    Some monarchies have kings, but that is not for us
    You may prefer a prince, but they are such a fuss!
    And do not mention dukes or we just might get miffed
    And a princess is a princess, if you get my drift.

    If you ask a bee we'll tell you:
    We love our royalty!

    The Queen
    The Queen
    The best you've ever seen
    We're here to celebrate her
    Come on let's coronate her
    The Queen
    The Queen
    The best you've ever seen
    I guess we simply mean
    Long live the queen!

    A monarchy they say is quaint and out of date
    But we're content with having just one head of state.
    And that's the way it is and how it always was
    If someone asks the reason, tell them here's the buzz...

    If you ask a bee we'll tell you:
    We love our royalty!

    HALF OF CLASS: OTHER HALF OF CLASS:
    The QueenThe Queen
    The QueenThe Queen
    The best you've ever seenWah woo wah
    We're here to celebrate herYay!
    Come on let's coronate her
    The QueenThe Queen
    The QueenThe Queen
    The best you've ever seenWah woo wah

    CLASS:
    I guess we simply mean
    Long live the queen!

    (QUEEN arrives with her ATTENDANTS. The BEES all give way, perhaps kneeling or bowing.)

    ATTENDANT #1 (announcing): Her Honorable Majesty, the Queen Bee!

    (BEES buzz in approval)

    ATTENDANT #2: Attention. The Queen has a very special message.

    (Buzzing stops)

    QUEEN: My fellow bees. It has been my great privilege to have you serve me. But I come here today to announce my retirement.

    (General concerned Bee-buzzing; during this we hear in quick succession:)

    BEE #3: What?

    BEE #4: Can she do that?

    BEE #5: What will we do?

    QUEEN (putting out her hands, calming down her subjects): Please, calm down. Ι know this may sting a bit. But I've devoted my life to you -- now it's time for me to find myself.

    ATTENDANT #1: She lays 1000 eggs a day. It's exhausting.

    ATTENDANT #2: And she NEVER gets out of the hive.

    QUEEN: So I'm following my dream -- I'm moving to Florida. [NOTE: You may actually live in Florida. Feel free to substitute the destination of your choice.]

    BEE #6: But who will be our Queen?

    QUEEN: You know, you've always had a queen. Maybe you should try something different.

    BEE #7: Something different? Like making chocolate syrup instead of honey?

    BEE #8: Oh, man, I LOVE chocolate syrup.

    QUEEN: No. I mean like a different form of government. Something besides a monarchy.

    BEE #9: There's something besides a monarchy?

    ATTENDANT #1: Sure. We just have to decide how we want to organize the hive.

    ATTENDANT #2: Yeah! Who do we want to make the rules?

    QUEEN: Exactly! It's up to you to decide!

      Song 2 - Listen to a clip now!

    QUEEN and ATTENDANTS:

    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?
    Who puts their hands on the governmental tools?

    BONNIE BEE: How 'bout me?
    BILLY BEE: How 'bout me?!

    CHORUS: Do you think that we are fools?

    QUEEN and ATTENDANTS:

    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?

    If you had a dictator he'd tell you what to do
    You wouldn't have to vote or think or have a point of view.
    A radical democracy could also be quite fun
    The people vote on everything and nothing much gets done.

    QUEEN and ATTENDANTS:

    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?
    Who puts their hands on the governmental tools?

    BONNIE BEE: How 'bout me?
    BILLY BEE: How 'bout me?!

    CHORUS: Do you think that we are fools?

    QUEEN and ATTENDANTS:

    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?

    A monarchy that's limited would be a compromise
    A constitution cuts the regal powers down to size.
    Great Britain has this system where the royalty are grand
    They cut a lot of ribbons and they own a lot of land.

    QUEEN, ATTENDANTS, CHORUS:

    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?
    Who puts their hands on the governmental tools?

    BONNIE BEE: How 'bout me?
    BILLY BEE: How 'bout me?!

    CHORUS: Do you think that we are fools?

    QUEEN, ATTENDANTS, CHORUS:

    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?
    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?
    Who
    Tell me who
    Makes the rules?

    QUEEN: As my last act as your queen, I will create a committee to explore the different possibilities of government for the hive. When you have come to your decision, you will need to get the final word from the Great Guru.

    BETTY BEE (jumping up and down, raising her hand): Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me for the committee! I have a LOT of ideas.

    ATTENDANT #1 (to QUEEN): That's Betty Bee, Your Highness. She has, ahem, a LOT of ideas. A LOT.

    BETTY BEE: Like, what if we take every wild and crazy political idea we can think of and try them out one at a time?

    QUEEN: That's been done, my dear. It's called Berkeley. I was thinking of Bonnie Bee and Billy Bee, since they have always wanted to have positions of leadership.

    BETTY BEE: You could choose me too! I really want to help!

    QUEEN (to ATTENDANTS): What do you think? Should we add a bee?

    ATTENDANT #2: Two bees or not two bees -- that is the question.

    QUEEN: Very well. Bonnie, Billy, and Betty -- you are the committee to form a new kind of government for our little state. Good luck! I'm off to Miami Beach.

    (QUEEN and ATTENDANTS exit. BONNIE, BILLY, and BETTY take center stage.)

    BONNIE: I think I should be chairman of the committee.

    BILLY: Who said there was a chairman? But if we do have one, it should be me. I'm the oldest.

    BETTY: Why don't we go by colors?

    BONNIE: Colors? We're bees, Betty. We're all yellow and black.

    BETTY (gazing off into the distance): I meant the colors in our hearts.

    BILLY (trying to move on): Uh, yeah, well, let's just try to get started. To be honest, none of the government options sounded all that good.

    BONNIE: I know. Except for the dictator. With the RIGHT dictator, of course. (SHE touches her chest, indicating the "right" choice.)

    SPENCER SPIDER (entering with SPALDING SPIDER): Oh, you don't want a dictator.

    BILLY: Well if it isn't the Spider brothers.

    SPALDING: We heard the queen told you all to buzz off.

    SPENCER: Yeah, you bees just keep droning on and on about it.

    BILLY: It's a big change for us, but we're moving forward.

    BETTY: And staying positive! We're going to invent a new form of government -- maybe something based on types of fruit.

    SPALDING: Fruit? No. You don't need to invent anything new. And you don't want another queen or a king or a dictator.

    BONNIE: But if we had the RIGHT dictator...

    SPENCER (shaking his head): Naaah. What you want is a democracy.

    BILLY: But we have too many bees and we're too busy flying around collecting pollen. If every one of us had to vote for everything, we'd never get anything else done.

    SPALDING: You're right. But we're not talking about a direct democracy, which is also called a radical democracy.

    SPENCER: He's right. That's what they had in ancient Athens, way back in the fifth century BCE, and look what happened to them...

    SPALDING and SPENCER: They're all dead!

    SPALDING: What you need is a representative democracy.

    BETTY: That sounds lovely!

    SPALDING and SPENCER: Oh, it is!

      Song 3 - Listen to a clip now!

    SPIDERS:

    In a representative democracy
    You elect officials that's the key
    They all vote on laws and bills and then you hope that you agree
    In a representative democracy.

    In a representative democracy
    Elected folks create most policy
    And the senators and congressmen all work in harmony.

    SPENCER (spoken): No laughing!

    SPIDER BROTHERS:
    In a representative democracy.

    You get to vote directly every now and then
    That's great because your voting power expands
    It's yay or nay on dozens of initiatives
    And ballot measures no one understands.

    SPALDING (spoken): But you get to vote anyway!

    BROTHERS and CHORUS:

    In a representative democracy
    Elected folks create most policy
    And the senators and congressmen all work in harmony.

    SPENCER (spoken): No laughing!

    BROTHERS and CHORUS:
    In a representative democracy.
    In a representative democracy.

    (SPIDER BROTHERS exit.)

    (This concludes the first one-third of the script.)
    Overall Customer Rating:
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    Customer Reviews: 3


    Rating:
    review-star review-star review-star review-star review-star

    Pros:
    Cons:
    LOVED THIS PLAY

    Great content, great learning experiences.

    Glendale, CA

    Rating:
    review-star review-star review-star review-star review-star

    Pros:
    • Catchy tunes
    • solid civics content
    Cons:
    The Beehive is a Winner!

    Another wonderful musical from Bad Wolf Press - perfect for third grade! Dramatic device of bees needing to choose a new form of government for their hive enables the other characters (e.g., spiders, owls, branches) to teach the audience while teaching the bees. Clever script contains many teaching opportunities (e.g., word play, academic/content vocabulary) and humor appeals to audiences of all ages, from "here's the buzz" for kindergarteners to "that's been tried --- it's called Berkeley" for their parents. Ensemble format gives every student their moment in the spotlight. You can't go wrong with The Beehive!

    review image  

    Seattle, WA

    Rating:
    review-star review-star review-star review-star review-star

    Pros:
    • perfect%20for%20fourth%20grade
    • easy%20to%20create%20costumes%20and%20sets
    • catchy%20songs
    Cons:
    Bee Government

    Songs are very catchy. Dialogue is easy to follow. Humor crosses generations. Easy to use. Easy to create costumes and stage.

    The end seemed a little abrupt. We added the following lines to the announcer:

    "We interrupt this program for one more important announcement. Our class wanted to end this production with a big bear coming in and eating the hive.

    But Mrs. Wilson said, “NO”.

    So then we suggested the queen sending a post card saying she’d changed her mind. The bees would keep their monarchy.

    But Mrs. Wilson said, “NO”

    Finally we thought we should have a cardboard cut out of Donald Trump. Joey wanted the bees to sting him.

    Once again, Mrs. Wilson said…… (pause) “NO!”

    So instead we are ending our production with the way it was written. With a song about citizenship. You see, government exists of the people, for the people and by the people. That’s you and me… citizens.

    So sit back and enjoy our last number, Good Citizens!"



    Common Core and Other National Standards

    History/Social Studies

    Language Arts

    • Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
    • Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
      • K and 1st: Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition
      • 2nd: Phonics and Word Recognition
      • 3rd, 4th, 5th: Phonics and Word Recognition, Fluency
    • Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
    • Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use - K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
    • Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity: Range of Text Types for K-5th

    National Core Arts Standards


    Vocabulary

    Vocabulary Associated with Government

    monarchy head of state dictator constitution radical democracy
    chairman policy initiative ballot measure direct democracy
    amend sub-clause judicial executive legislative
    James Madison "Veep" cabinet federal checks and balances
    provincial territorial governor city council mayor
    district municipality civics politics president
    coronate succession

    General Vocabulary-Building (in script and stage directions)

    give way guru buzz off drone (v.) nocturnal
    intentions expound watertight overrated extinct
    posse anecdote lollygag flourish apoplexy
    Number of questions: 0

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