Young Performers Theatre: Tunnel Top Travelers By Emily Cronan

Young Performers Theatre (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.

When a citywide teacher strike shuts down schools across San Francisco, a ragtag group of kids from every corner of the city – public schoolers, private school elites, and free-spirited forest kids – are thrown together for a chaotic “field trip” in the Presidio. With two overconfident student leaders in charge and zero adult supervision, what starts as forced team-building quickly turns into something far more unexpected.

Drawn by whispers of hidden tunnels beneath the city, the kids embark on a secret adventure in search of treasure that might just save their schools. Along the way, alliances shift, secrets surface, and unlikely friendships form – while a mysterious figure named Orin invites them into a magical underground world where anything feels possible.

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.

Orin’s disconnect with his present-day descendants in the world above has a parallel in unresolved divides and frictions among the different factions of the Presidio field-trip students. 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 aplenty, Tunnel Top Travelers is a high-energy, family-friendly story about courage, curiosity and what can happen when kids take the lead. Tunnel Top Travelers explores what it means to grow up, speak up, and find connection in uncertain times.

Read more about the Tunnel Top Travelers on YPT’s blog.