Unicorn Players, Inc.

About the play

About two decades before the Civil War, Tom Sawyer is living in St. Petersburg, a small village on the Mississippi River. Tom's mother is dead and he is living with his Aunt Polly, whose efforts to rear a youngster with a firm hand are hampered by her tender-hearted affection for him.

When Tom is finally sentenced by Aunt Polly to spend his Saturday whitewashing a long board fence, he uses some shrewdly applied psychology to dupe various boys into doing the work for him and paying him for the privilege.

Later, Tom and his friend, Huckleberry Finn, decide to take a dead cat (to be used as a wart cure) to the cemetery at midnight. While there, they come upon Dr. Robinson, Injun Joe, and Muff Potter digging up a recently buried corpse. There is a quarrel among the men. Muff is knocked unconscious, and the Doctor is stabbed by Injun Joe, yet no one notices the two boys. When Muff Potter comes to, Injun Joe names him as the killer and Muff is in such a muddle that he believes him.

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Tom Sawyer!

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Tom is torn between fear that the true villain will learn that he and Huck have witnessed the real crime and his concern for the innocent Muff. However, Tom finally confides his dreaded secret to Judge Thatcher.

On a picnic excursion, Tom and Becky become lost in McDougal's Cave. At one point during their ordeal, Tom catches sight of Injun Joe in a passage. A chase ensues which culminates in Injun Joe's downfall.

Huck comes to the rescue. Tom shows him the stolen treasure left by Injun Joe and promises him half of it for rescuing him and Becky from the cave.

As the play ends, we see the boys and Becky making their way out of the cave and planning new adventures which will undoubtedly lead them along the path to maturity.