From Here to There and Back Again

10+ children, either sex

From Here to There and Back Again tells the story of Tony, a boy who has brought a special stone to school for Show and Tell. A classmate convinces Tony that the stone has magical properties and that the world will turn topsy-turvy if the stone is lost. Just that seems to happen when the stone disappears: Tony is sent away from school for being too old, becomes lost in a forest with talking animals, and is chased through a carnival by a menacing wolf. All turns out well, however, when Tony recovers the stone, and his world returns to normal.

From Here to There and Back Again contains three major characters: Tony, the hero (easily changed to a girl); Tony's classmate, a bully who doubles as the menacing wolf; and the Sun, who narrates the daylight portions of the story from her perch in the sky. The play is populated as well by a host of children who enact the various other roles required by the story. These roles, mimed more often than not, include schoolchildren, animals, trees, boulders, mirror images, Dodg'em cars, and a merry-go-round. The children also function as cheerleaders, eliciting audience participation to furnish sound effects for the forest at night and for a thunderstorm.

The play is designed to be acted by children ages 7 to 12 and provides parts for ten or more children.