I often watch my three children, ages 2-6, playing with their toys and creating the most innovative of worlds. This stuffed burger is married to that stuffed unicorn and their child is a little dinosaur, or all of their myriad of stuffed creatures are children who have to go to school then to kids club where they do all kinds of activities. 

Children bring their toys to life in such imaginative ways, and the story of one very familiar child and his friends is being brought to life by all for One productions at the PPG Arts Lab, 300 E. Main St.

Winnie-the-Pooh: A Dream of Honey opened to great reviews last weekend and continues this weekend, April 26-28.

From page to stage

Winnie-the-Pooh: A Dream of Honey is an adaptation of A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie-the-Pooh stories, lovingly threaded together and scripted for the stage by all for One’s artistic director Lauren E. Nichols. 

Nichols notes in the program that she discovered the beloved stories when her son was a toddler. 

“It has been a true labor of love to work on developing some of them into a stage play to enchant a new generation of children,” she wrote. 

And enchant children all for One has. 

Opening night saw a near sell-out crowd that was easily 20 percent children, all of whom were absolutely entranced by seeing their beloved characters brought to life in front of them, my daughter among them.

Set pieces delight young critic

My daughter Clara, who is 6 years old, has been a lover of Pooh and his stories most of her young life. To see them come to life on stage was nothing short of magical. 

Admittedly my daughter is a bit of a theater aficionado; she’s been to many productions, local and national, and never shies from telling me she didn’t like a show. But to her, Winnie-the-Pooh: A Dream of Honey was something special. 

“Mom,” she said to me after the show, “It was like being in the book. It looked like the book, and the characters were just like the book, and I just loved it!” 

High praise from a 6-year-old who is often glued to her screen.

The all for One design team does an excellent job bringing the Hundred Acre Wood to life. 

Artist Michael Wilhelm creates a stunning focal point in the show’s projected video backdrop. The video, which was animated in places by Brock Eastom, was inspired by Ernest Shepherd’s original artwork that is found in the classic book. It really finds its mark. 

In addition to the fabulous backdrop projection, scenic builder Tod Mohr adds several modular pieces to bring to life iconic locations, like Rabbit’s infamous hole, in three dimensions in innovative and practical ways.

Meanwhile the inhabitants of the wood, Pooh and his friends, are very thoughtfully costumed in designs by Mary Swerens. The uptight character of Rabbit is in a very structured suit with the studious Owl in classic tweed, and a fantastic contraption to make a pouch for Kanga that was big enough for containing the bouncy, far from little, Roo. Piglet, female in this adaptation, was dressed in a full pink skirt and boots that were reminiscent of hooves, and also, much to the delight of my daughter, the green vest which is often mentioned in the books but was left behind in the Disney adaptations.

Becoming the characters

For all of the triumphs of the production’s design team, the true life of the show is the talented cast. 

From the smallest, the exuberant Elton McGlothlin who makes his debut as Roo, to Finley McGlothlin who plays the clever Christopher Robin with such charm, to Dennis Nichols who plays the boisterous, somewhat bumbling Owl, to angst-ridden Eeyore who was so artfully portrayed by all for One newcomer Naka Piohia, to Beth Kriner and Abbey Pfenning as Kanga and Rabbit in excellent performances both physically and emotionally. The entire cast was excellent.

Clara was particularly impressed by Kalleah Wilfong’s Piglet. 

“I love how light she looked,” she said. “She was always on her tiptoes, because Piglet is always scared and it made her look like she was so tiny!” 

Wilfong had no easy task in portraying the Hundred Acre Wood’s resident scaredy-pig, as there were a number of physical gags needed to accurately portray one of the most familiar of Milne’s stories. But Wilfong, light on her feet, carried it off without a hitch. 

And what would the Hundred Acre Wood be without Winnie the Pooh? Jadon Moore embodies the beloved bear exceptionally. 

Moore, who was part of the very development of the script after a casual conversation where he made mention of learning Pooh’s voice to read the classic stories to his child, has mastered that voice, and when paired with the excellent physicality that Moore brings to the beloved character, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better performance anywhere.

Wandering through the Hundred Acre Wood with all for One is like a visit back to your childhood — back to familiar friends and a wholesome time with family, which is a major focus of all for One, who are proudly a not-for-profit, faith-based theater company. 

Winnie-the-Pooh: A Dream of Honey is family-friendly even for the youngest children, and a wonderful way of pulling your older children and yourself away from screens and back to that land of imagination, even if just for an evening.