A journey around the world in song!  The music is very varied and colourful, and the show is well suited to a large cast, making it an excellent whole school or end of year production.

Alice and Jack are staying with their grandparents.  The rain is pouring down, so they're stuck inside and very bored. While squabbling, they accidentally knock over Grandma's button box - and an assortment of weird and wonderful buttons spill out across the floor. These buttons were all collected by Uncle Jack, and there's a story behind each one.  As the children hand the buttons to Grandma she explains where they came from - and the full story behind each button is revealed in a song. The dialogue also reveals some interesting family history - and Grandad’s attempts at healthy eating!  14 songs and an Irish dance are cleverly interwoven within a play that has plenty of other dance opportunities. Presentations, in whatever form, can use all or any combination of the songs. Song styles and ‘flavours’ include:- Australian Aboriginal, Chinese, Jamaican, African, Indian and Irish, as well as music hall, pop and sea shanty.

Author: John Gleadall

Age guide: 8 to 12

Running time: 50 mins - perf. licence required

No. of songs: 11 + one dance

"We've just finished our performances of 'The Button Box'. It was my second time doing your show and once again it was a huge success. The structure of it works so well for a primary school production...  It's light-hearted, warm and very enjoyable for teachers and children to work on.  Every night the audience walked out humming the tunes, so that's always a good sign!"
~ L Dryland, Teacher, New Zealand.