‘Little Prince’ needs to grow up

Know your audience. A cardinal rule in children’s theater.

Here’s another: If you’re an adult playing the role of a child, do not -- repeat, do not -- speak and giggle like a cartoony, helium-sucking Keebler elf.

Both rules, sadly, are broken in South Coast Repertory’s latest production for young audiences, “The Little Prince.”

In Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s 1943 allegorical fantasy, a cynical aviator crash-lands in the Sahara and encounters an achingly innocent star-traveler who awakens him to the important things that “can only be seen with the heart.” The bittersweet depths in this story about life, death and redemption are quite adult; the considerable whimsy in its telling, complemented in book form by Saint-Exupery’s charming watercolor illustrations, reach out to children.

In their new stage adaptation, Rick Cummins and John Scoullar attempt to do justice to that delicate cross-generational appeal. Instead, the play becomes mired in the slough of despond, so weighed down by good intentions that lovely lines (“It is such a secret place, the land of tears.” “What is essential is invisible to the eye.”) seem ponderous. As culpable, if not more so, are director Anne Justine D’Zmura’s uninspired staging and unfortunate performances by the professional cast.

The irritating goo-goo voice that Jessica Goldapple (and presumably D’Zmura) deems appropriate for the Little Prince, not only diminishes one of the most poignant characters in children’s literature, it’s an insult to self-respecting children. That superficiality, matched by a saccharinity in Goldapple’s performance, contrasts oddly with her overdone scenes of teary grief. While undoubtedly sincere, the effect is almost alarming.

Costar Sharmila Devar is hit-or-miss in dual roles -- competent as the Snake, who deals in death and deliverance, and shrill as the Little Prince’s vain and needy Rose. Preston Maybank is only halfhearted as the Aviator, as if making up his mind about how much to commit himself to a losing proposition.

A hint of what might have been in rhythm, execution and content, comes in Louis Lotorto’s sterling performance as the Fox, who imparts the story’s core lesson after allowing himself to be tamed. Lotorto and Christopher Gerson also add a dash of comic life as eccentric, sole inhabitants of distant stars.

Donna Marquet’s desert set, with the exception of an inspired waterfall, is adequate; Paul James Pendergast’s sound is pristine and Tammy Owen Slauson provides the atmospheric lights. Costume designer Angela Balogh Calin did nicely comic and cosmic 18th century-inspired ensembles worn by two of the sillies the Little Prince meets while planet hopping. Points off, though, for Goldapple’s unattractive and ill-fitting wig.

This is the first real stumble for SCR’s professional family theater series, which launched in 2003 and has done well overall, albeit with more easily accessible fare. The company, with its enviable resources and national repute, is capable of much better.

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‘The Little Prince’

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Where: Julianne Argyros Stage, South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. today, 2 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday

Ends: Sunday

Price: $16 to $23

Contact: (714) 708-5555, www.scr.org

Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes