You’ve just arrived at Young People’s Theatre.You’ve found your seat and everyone is waiting for the show to start. An usher is giving a speech about turning off your phone when suddenly you hear people shouting ‘Wait! Don’t start the show!’. Who are they? They’re not here for the show. They’re looking for something.
BONNIE:I’m sorry! I’m sorry for interrupting. We’re looking for the secret.
What secret? I guess they don’t know. That’s what makes it a secret. But they seem to have a clue.
MAX: The clue says “Find Mr. DiFrancesco, he’ll be in the crowd.”
BONNIE: Is there a Mr. DiFrancesco here? Mr. DiFrancesco?
Your teacher Mr. DiFrancesco stands up, surprised. How did this clue know he’d be here? How did these people get the clue?
MAX: Okay! Okay! Okay! “Find Mr. DiFrancesco, he’ll be in the crowd, and what’s under his seat should be read out loud.”
BONNIE:Is there something under your seat?! There is?! Read it out! Read it loud!
Mr. DiFrancesco has found another clue. He reads it out and when he’s finished a large silk rope drops from above in front of the stage curtain. There’s a big label on it that reads ‘PULL HERE’. You shout for Bonnie and Max to pull on it. They do.
The curtains part, and through the bright lights and colourful haze you see what looks like a big machine. One of those machines that have a bunch of different parts. A Rube Goldberg machine is the name, you think, and you feel really smart for remembering that. But it’s…broken? Parts seem to be missing. At the end of the machine is a giant, locked chest. A big sign reads ‘DO NO TOUCH’.
BONNIE: Max! Max! We found it. Look. This is it. The Secret of YPT.
MAX: I can’t believe we found it so fast.
BONNIE:That was way easier than the last few secrets we’ve solved.
Bonnie and Max explain to you that they’re professional Searchers. They travel all over solving secrets and uncovering mysteries.
BONNIE:We solved the secret of the Harbour, the Birmingham secret…
MAX: the secret of the 401 streetcar…
BONNIE: I did not see that short-turn coming!
MAX:And the secret of my Aunt Brenda!
BONNIE:oof, yeah, that was a doozy.
MAX: My poor Aunt Brenda…
BONNIE:And now we’ve found the Secret of YPT. Another mystery solved by Bonnie and Max. And you thought it was gonna be hard…
MAX:Well we were told that the Secret of YPT is one of the trickiest ones to discover. And we haven’t solved it yet. It’s locked up inside this chest and there’s a giant sign that says ‘DO NOT TOUCH’
BONNIE: Oh please, that’s just a suggestion.
MAX:Bonnie do NOT touch that chest.
BONNIE: I’m not going to. I know how to follow instructions. I’m obviously NOT going to touch it.
Bonnie touches it. Lights starts flashing. Suddenly a loud voice comes booming over the speakers.
YOU HAVE DISRUPTED THE SECRET OF YPT. THE CHEST WILL ONLY OPEN WHEN THE STORIES HAVE BEEN PUT BACK TOGETHER.
BONNIE: The stories have been put back together -
MAX:What does that mean?
BONNIE:Well I think -
THE STORIES THAT LIVE HERE
BONNIE: Oh, it’s not done.
THE STORIES THAT LIVE HERE HAVE BROKEN APART AND YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO COLLECT THE PIECES AND RETURN THEM HERE, OR THE STORIES AND THE SECRET WILL BE LOST FOREVER.
A flurry of people across the stage. You recognize the three little pigs.
PIGS: My house! My poor house! What’s happening!? The ground started shaking and our story fell apart! It’s the end of daaaaays!!!
Suddenly a giant timer turns on above the stage. In big red numbers it shows 1:00:00 and immediately starts counting down from one hour - 0:59:59, 0:59:58, 0:59:57. Bonnie and Max realize they’ve created an emergency.
MAX: Okay, I don’t know what is happening but I know that it’s bad. We gotta find a way to collect the pieces of the stories.
BONNIE:What does this meeaannnnn though?
MAX:I don’t know…maybe if we find all the pieces we’ll be able to get this machine to work and unlock the secret? But we only have an hour so we gotta move!
BONNIE: Well technically less than an hour now according to that giant and intimidating timer.
MAX: We need to get moving! Can you help us!?
Will you help them? The crowd chants ‘yes!’ and you’re divided into 5 teams: BLUE, GREEN, RED, PURPLE, and PINK.
MAX:Each team is a search party. We’ll split up and look for stories. If you find a story, try your best to put it back together and collect the missing pieces to bring back here.
BONNIE:What do the pieces look like?
MAX:I don’t know! But we only have an hour so we better start looking. Story Searchers ready?!
