Escalating teen-aged mischief is the core of "The Stones," a play mounted by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and aimed at intermediate and high school audiences.

In it, a 13- and 15-year-old with too much time and adrenaline break into a locked garage, try to set a cat on fire, and kick a stone from a highway overpass that causes the death of a motorist.

The Australian play written by actors Tom Lycos and Stefo Nantsou is based on a real incident. Yokanaan Kearns adapted the work for audiences in Hawai'i — which has had its own rock-throwing incidents. In 1997, a 21-year-old woman suffered head injuries when a rock tossed from an H-1 overpass smashed through her car windshield.

The play's two juveniles are brought to trial, but a verdict isn't reached. Instead, its dramatic conclusion works as a springboard for audience discussion. Should juveniles be tried as adults? Are they sufficiently aware of the consequences of their actions? Should parents be criminally and economically responsible for their underage children?

Directed by Eric Johnson, the one-hour drama is dark, direct and fast-moving. It powerfully depicts the wild excitement and thrill-seeking of two boys — not yet men — who find themselves on a perilous razor's edge.

Alvin Chan plays Shy Boy, the 13-year-old who proposes the mischief, but inherently senses its potential danger. Reb Beau Allen is Yahoo, the older boy who dominates Shy Boy and precipitates the mounting crises.

Much of their action is sporadic and physical. Using a pair of rolling scaffolds that adjust and disassemble, they spin, climb, crawl and collide to simulate tunnels and overpasses. The crashes and clangs add to the mounting excitement and sense of danger.

But in a brilliant dramatic move, the two HTY actors also play a pair of police officers who apprehend and interrogate the boys. The role switch is done with great theatricality and no change in costume.

Chan simply unzips his windbreaker and Allen reverses his baseball cap when the youngsters become the adults. Within seconds, the two actors have changed roles and convincingly continue four-character scenes with total believability and no lack of continuity.

It's that ingredient that makes "The Stones" an exciting theater piece that succeeds far beyond a more realistic approach.

Much of its dramatic punch also comes from designer H. Bart McGeehon, who uses industrial materials for the set and stage props, and captures the mood with starkly noir lighting effects. A throbbing rock soundtrack adds to the sinister mix.

The result is exciting and provocative. While the entire story is told from the boys' limited point of view, it offers a closing hope that their self-absorption might lead to a greater outside awareness.