Gage McCalester, Emily Edens, Ben Bergthold, Bella Kuta (front row), Jazmin Mendez-Barradas, Sofia Ortiz, and Elle Winchester in "A Wrinkle in Time" at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre -- November 9 through 18.

Friday, November 9, through Sunday, November 18

Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Avenue, Moline IL

Enjoying an area-theatre presentation mere months after its film version emerged as a $100-million-grossing springtime hit for Disney, Madeleine L'Engle's iconic children's-book A Winkle in Time wraps up the Playcrafters Barn Thatre's 2018 season with a family-adventure bang, its November 9 through 18 run treating audiences to a stage work the Chicago Reader deemed “a spirited retelling that captures the heart of (L'Engle's) magic.”

With its stage adaptation by James Sie, the science-fiction fantasy A Wrinkle in Time finds its young protagonist Meg and her baby brother Charles Wallace meeting three enchanted beings: Mrs. Whatsit, who can transform herself into a huge flying creature; Mrs. Who, a time traveler who offers pithy aphorisms in foreign languages; and Mrs. Which, who, as her name implies, knows all the right spells. The trio have learned the art of “tessering” – gliding through a fifth dimension to visit other worlds – which proves to be an ideal ability for the desperate kids' quest to find their father – a government physicist who mysteriously disappeared when he learned how to penetrate a time warp known as “the tesseract.” Aided by their pal Calvin O'Keefe, Meg and Charles Wallace travel through time and space, learning about life and love along the way, in this theatrical version of L'Engle's 1962 classic that won the esteemed Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award.

Playcrafters' A Wrinkle in Time is being directed by venue veteran Jacque Cohoon, whose previous presentations for the Moline theatre include The Dixie Swim Club, Stocking Stuffers, and this past summer's A Number. Meg is portrayed by Bella Kuta, with traveling companions Charles Wallace and Calvin played by Ben Bergthold and Gage McCalester, respectively. And with the kids' supernatural guardians enacted by Sofia Ortiz, Jazmin Mendez-Barradas, and Elle Winchester, a baker's-dozen of area talents compose the rest of the Wrinkle in Time ensemble: Aaron Baker, Ava Christian, Brian Christian, David Cobert, Ali Dismer, Emily Edens, Mattie Gelaude, Ellie Gradert, Bailey Hager, AnnaLiese Hayes, Tabitha Oles, Jazmin Roberts, and Vickie Underwood.

A Wrinkle in Time runs November 9 through 18 with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $13, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-0330 or visiting Playcrafters.com.

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