Austin O'Toole
Mystery, TYA/Children's Theatre
Characters: 4 male, 8 female, plus offstage voices
Exterior Set
Two boys, harassed by summer chores, decide to run away from home. They stop to rest at a clearing in the woods. The boys are awakened by hand puppet characters who issue mysterious warnings of trouble ahead. Soon the boys are surrounded by easily recognizable villains, heroes and heroines from children's literature, who mistake them for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Unable to escape, they undergo a farcical trial in which they fail to prove they aren't Tom and Huck. Longing for home, they accept their fates, but are saved in a challenge which proves their true identities. And, they are discovered to be the heroes of a brand new story being written at this very moment!