The Story of Opal

This world premiere presents the journal of a young girl living in Cottage Grove, Ore., in the early1900s in its full innocence, grace and poetry. Opal Whiteley said she wrote the journal as a child, but the writing is very mature and caused much doubt when it was published. However, if you leave skepticism behind, this production celebrates the author’s amazing writing, where a child’s incredible imagery, fertile imagination and lush literary language become poetry in motion under the sensitive touch of the cast and crew. The play is touchingly written and beautifully rendered. Yes, this is advanced writing, with a mature perspective that few children have. But if you can put doubts aside and embrace the idea of a world envisioned by an imaginative, intuitive and expressive child, it’s a delight.
Foothill Theatre; 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday; $11-$26. 401 Broad Street in Nevada City, (530) 265-8587, www.foothilltheatre.org. Through May 27.