Spycraft

Spycraft is a two-act thriller about a female operative who spies on the Nazis in WWII occupied France by knitting code into ordinary garments.

It’s modern day, and Cleo and her adult daughter Sophie receive recently declassified information about Cleo’s grandmother from the Imperial War Museum in London. Turns out, Audette was not just a sweet old lady who knitted socks—she also worked for Churchill’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a spy in Occupied France. The debrief of Audette’s espionage activities answers some questions but leaves many more. Cleo and Sophie’s present dovetails with Audette’s past in 1942 as a middle-aged woman and hidden Jew whose male colleague at the SOE is skeptical she’ll make a difference because she’s a woman and an ‘old’ one at that. But she challenges the chauvinism and ageism of the time by using her invisibility to employ knitting—a classically female craft—to pass coded intelligence to the Allies. After learning the secret story of Audette’s unique and brazen Nazi takedown, Cleo and Sophie—a new mother herself—grapple with the sudden discovery they’re Jewish, especially when Antisemitism is on the rise, and spreading disinformation about the Holocaust has become commonplace. Will they hide their identity as Audette did, or will they embrace it, and all that it means?

Like The Imitation Game or Bletchley Circle meets knitting, Spycraft is cool twist to the classic espionage story. Knitting is a commonplace, seemingly inconse hobby usually attributed to women, especially older women—who are also frequently rendered invisible and considered inconsequential. So there is power in defying expectations by using this invisibility to change the course of history.

Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council.

Spycraft Reviews and Notices

Belleville Intelligencer, Oct 29, 2025

New play ‘Spycraft’ at Stirling theatre is a wartime thriller - with knitting

The Slotkin Letter, Nov 10, 2025

Review: SPYCRAFT

Sesaya Arts Magazine, Nov 25, 2025

Review: Strong performances, tough questions make “Spycraft” a thrilling yarn

Glenn Sumi, Nov 26, 2025

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A View from the Box, Dec 01, 2025

A Yarn or Two Arts Collective’s “Spycraft”

this is spycraft

Spycraft Past Shows, 2025