YOUNG PERFORMERS THEATRE PRESENTS

YPT alum Emily Cronan wrote Tunnel Top Travelers specifically for YPT actors. The play deftly weaves together ideas they came up with for their own characters, one of whom communicates mainly through meows. There’s an a cappella song about unicorns and Pokémon, along with references to cultural touchstones such as Super Mario, Olivia Rodrigo and Bad Bunny. 

The enigmatic Orin embodies the story’s fantasy element. As a young boy, after surviving the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, he became a caretaker of treasures in tunnels beneath the city and the conductor of a secret, underground Muni rail line. His disconnect with his present-day descendants in the world above has a parallel in unresolved divides and frictions among the different factions of field-trip students, who have been thrown together for an exercise in team building. As their destinies become intertwined with Orin’s, the kids discover that the people you least expect can become your closest allies, and the real treasure isn’t what you find — it’s who you find it with.

Packed with laughs, imagination and surprises, Tunnel Top Travelers is a high-energy, family-friendly story about courage, curiosity and what can happen when kids take the lead.

Read more about the play on YPT’s blog.