NigHt of tHe pterodActyls

Twelve-year-old Whit thinks Carly, who has just moved to town, is the ugliest girl in the universe. She is also the smartest person Whit has every met. Carly is obsessed with dinosaurs, and Whit becomes obsessed with Carly. But when Carly starts digging up the neighborhood, Whit has trouble explaining his affection for her to the GAs, his secret, all-male group of friends known as the Gross Associates. When Carly finds a nest of pterodactyl eggs in a neighbor's rose garden, the whole town is turned upside down. Pandemonium abounds and the National Guard has to be called out to keep away the curious. As one of Whit's friends explains to a TV reporter, "Yes, well, we all knew about her digging, but who could have thought that her digging up Mrs. Webster's rose garden would lead to something like this?" What it leads to is a dramatic finale where the pterodactyl eggs are excavated on live television. The glare of the TV lights is so bright that they warm the pterodactyl eggs and they begin to hatch...or do they? With this play the talented Julian Wiles achieves the almost impossible--he has written an entirely fresh and original play for children's theatre. As with his earlier play, the boy who stole the stars, you'll find his work to be of special quality, practical, and in every way a threatrical delight.