THEATER REVIEW / ‘PUSS IN BOOTS’ : Kids and Cats : Cal Lutheran breathes new life into an old tale with a production both parents and children will enjoy.

Seldom does a production aimed at young children satisfy them as well as their elder siblings or parents. The production of “Puss in Boots,” concluding this weekend at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, is an exception. It’s one you shouldn’t mind taking the kids to.

The show marks the 26th year for Cal Lutheran’s Children’s Theatre, produced in association with the Thousand Oaks Chapter of the American Assn. of University Women. A corps of enthusiastic Cal Lutheran students romps through a modernized version of the vintage fairy tale, under the direction of Barbara Thompson.

In Sally Nazel’s script, an old shoemaker’s estate is divided among his three sons. The elder two, Boris and Horace, get the shop and house, leaving youngest son Marcus with nothing but the family cat and a pair of custom-made boots.

The object is for Marcus to find fame and fortune, while dispatching the fearsome Ogre of the Orange Grove while he’s at it. Unfortunately, Marcus lacks imagination. Fortunately, he’s got the cat.

All of this is played very broadly for a tight 45 minutes, including a small amount of group audience participation, in which no one child is singled out.

As bickering Boris and Horace, carrying on like a couple of 6-year-olds, Brian Harper and Shaun Travers rack up immediate identification with the young audience.

Perry Ursem looks a bit like TV’s Doogie Howser, M. D., and in his portrayal of Marcus conveys that same rather bland niceness. Lisa Weisenberger’s inventive Puss combines cat and ham in approximately equal parts.

Another audience favorite is the Ogre, here played by Sean Atkins. He’s menacing enough that one tot in Sunday’s first-show audience was clearly terrified; most of the other kids, however, found the giant very amusing, indeed. (Of course, they also delighted in the sight of Puss trying on the pair of red boots, which adults will probably find more charming than humorous).

Also present are Erik Kennedy, Kelly Culwell and Michelle Murray as king, queen and princess; Fred Beers as a palace guard, and Siana-Lea Gildard and Elisa Johns as a pair of rather dimwitted town girls pursuing Boris and Horace.

Jennifer Davis’ costume design is notable--shades of purple for the royal family, earth tones for the common folk--and Cheryllynn Carter’s set design and Shaun Travers’ makeup design both score, as well.

“Puss in Boots” concludes this weekend at Cal Lutheran’s Preus-Brandt Forum, at the end of Chapel Lane on the University’s campus at 60 W. Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. Performances are at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday, and at 1 p.m. Sunday. All seats are $3. For information--or advance reservations for groups of 10 or more--call 492-1474 or 493-4483.