SIYT went back to it’s roots with the musical version of Mark Twain’s story of this mischievous mastermind and his friends as they pitch their wits against Injun Joe.

This fantastic musical has something for everyone. Beneath the humour and the innocence of childhood lies the harsh realities of superstitions & slavery, murder & intrigue, starvation & revenge.

SIYT were joined by writers John Charlesworth and Eric Weyman for the third night of this nostalgic trip back to the Mississippi of over 150 years ago in July 2009.

The cast included 15 Little Tommies - aged between 6 and 10 years old, possible SIYT members of the future.

SIYT in Court

Tom Sawyer includes a tense court scene. In preparation, SIYT members were given a guided tour of the new court buildings in Huntingdon and also visited the Old Bailey in London.

Taster - 2 songs at Picnic at the House II (Hinchingbrooke House Tuesday 30th June)

Rehearsal Photographs

Production Photographs

There's more to being backstage than you might think.....

If you thought all the action was onstage - think again! Enjoy Injun Joe and the Backstage Crew's alternative version of "All Hid" filmed backstage on the last night of Tom Sawyer

The Writers

First published in 1976, the musical interpretation of this classical tale was written by John Charlesworth and Tony Brown with music composed by Eric Weyman. This gorgeous piece was the seed for SIYT's creation in 2001 after Jonathan Salt and Brian Carter produced this piece with a cast from St. Ivo School in St. Ives. Actually Jonathan appeared in an early production of the work when at school.

The Inspiration - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910)

Better known as Mark Twain, was an American author & humorist most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer which is redolent of life in the Mississippi River towns in which Twain spent his own youth.

The sales of Tom Sawyer were lukewarm at first. It initially sold less than a third as many copies as Twain's Innocents Abroad. By the time of Mark Twain's death; however, Tom Sawyer was both an American classic and a bestseller. It is arguably the work for which Twain is best known today.

During his lifetime, Twain became a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists and European royalty. Twain enjoyed immense public popularity, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature.