Playful production

The Arden Theatre Co. has brought one of Louis Sachar’s children’s stories to stage with amazing results. As it unfolds, it is apparent that Sideways Stories from Wayside School is not just for children.

The charming and endlessly engaging play, brilliantly directed by Whit MacLaughlin and featuring a fabulous ensemble cast, is smart entertainment for the whole family.

Yes, the children will be enthralled, but this zany tale from the Wayside School is also sophisticated entertainment that will challenge the adults and have them laughing right along with the kids.

Imagine the confusion at Wayside School after the builder makes a terrible mistake. Instead of building 30 classrooms side by side, he built them one on top of another.

Putting new meaning into the phrase "institution of higher learning," the students’ classroom is located on the 30th floor of a building that’s only 29 stories high. This discrepancy causes great consternation among the visitors to the top floor and provides the play with its central mystery. The upper stories undergo mysterious changes; the higher they reach, the more magical it gets.

Playwright John Olive has created a comedy based on Sachar’s three novels about the Wayside School, an institution with one classroom per story and countless stories in each classroom. Olive is a widely produced and award-winning playwright, screenwriter, novelist, essayist and teacher.

Sachar was born in East Meadow, N.Y., and now lives in Austin, Texas. His first book for children, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, was accepted for publication during his first week of law school. Although Sachar graduated and passed the bar exam, he opted to be a children’s author rather than a lawyer.

It would be unfair to give away everything that happens at Wayside School because some of the characters and places really don’t exist (poor Miss Zarves and that twilight zone on the 19th floor) and some props take more imagination than one could possibly imagine, like Miss Jewels’ weird orchestra instruments.

There’s a tyrant teacher, swinging an extra-thick yardstick, who turns disruptive students into apples; a wickedly funny Freudian school counselor; a unique computer lesson that’s bound to satisfy any keyboard-handicapped adult; an exuberant, expectorating tango teacher, Miss Valoosh; an enchanting pair of pigtails that tell their own story; and a principal, Mr. Kidswatter, whose mustachioed mouth appears on television monitors. Quirky characters just keep appearing, provided they can make it up the stairs.

And what a marvelous cast — every member a gem: Ben Dibble, Christina Gianaris, Maggie Lakis, Joshua Lamon, Marcia Saunders, Catharine Slusar, Dionne Stone and Steven Wright.

Director MacLaughlin has a good feel for movement, pacing and nutty child’s play, but he also gets invaluable service from scenic artist Nick Embree, lighting designer Thomas C. Hase, sound and video creator Jorge Cousineau and costume designer Richard St. Clair, all of whom add their special flavor to this unique magic and endless fun.

The show is a 90-minute performance with one intermission. There is a swift five-minute question-and-answer session after the show — expect some interesting questions from the youngsters about the play’s details, special effects and acting.

The Arden has made a specialty of family theater and this production succeeds on all levels. It’s the kind of show you would like to see twice. I loved it and have no doubt your family will be thrilled as well.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Through Jan. 25
Arden Theatre
40 N. Second St.
Tickets: $12-$28
215-922-1122
www.ardentheatre.org