You've heard of "Disney on Ice" and other such twists on family favorites, performed by gliding, skate-shod characters. Now, a Mark Twain classic has a new incarnation not with blades, but with wheels.

In That Uppity Theatre Company's "The Assorted Short Adventures of Tom, Huck and Becky," by Aarya Sara Locker and Uppity artistic director Joan Lipkin, Tom and Becky are in wheelchairs. Huck happens to have intellectual disabilities. It's all part of the theater company's DisAbility Project, which encourages awareness of all differences in ability.

Huck's yearning to read, Becky's unwillingness to wait for Tom before setting off on an adventure, and characters in wheelchairs struggling with public transportation are scenarios in which the play explores issues of ability as well as feminism. That Tom is played by a woman also typifies the outside-the-box thinking that defines the show.

The 30-minute production, followed by a Q & A session, includes original music by Steven Givens and Mike Hall. Despite the many revisions to the original script, purists, take comfort: The fence-painting scene remains, complete with its own special song.

The theme was chosen to coordinate with The Big Read, an annual literacy-promotion event presented by Cultural Festivals in St. Louis city and county and by the Foundary Art Centre in St. Charles. This year's book for this area is "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." For a list of activities and a story about the Big Read, click here .

"The Assorted Adventures of Tom, Huck and Becky" will help wrap up the season with two Thursday showings on Feb. 18 and 25. There is no charge for either production but seating is limited. And check out the cast photo in a picture provided by That Uppity Theatre Company.