More than 80 years after 'The Little Prince' first captured readers’ imaginations, its timeless message about love, friendship and the importance of seeing the world through a child’s eyes continues to resonate.
This November, the Wilma Theater will bring Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved novel to the stage, inviting audiences of all ages to rediscover the magic of one of the world’s most enduring stories.
The production is an adaptation by Rick Cummins and John Scoullar, directed by Yury Urnov. The show uses the magic of live theater to rekindle adults’ sense of wonder and celebrate the boundless possibilities of children’s imaginations.
Published in 1943, Saint-Exupéry’s novel has sold an estimated 140 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 600 languages and dialects. Its universal themes have made it one of the most widely read and translated books in history.
Urnov, who grew up with the story, said its appeal lies partly in how differently it speaks to readers at different stages of life.
He remembers first reading the book when he was about 5 years old. Now, at 50, he finds himself experiencing an entirely different story.
“I'm reading an absolutely different book now than I was reading then,” he said. “And that fascinates me —just this idea of how growing up changes our perception in the same text.”
That shifting perspective is at the heart of the Wilma's production.
In the story, a curious young traveler from a faraway planet (Canales) befriends a world-weary Aviator (Beschler) whose sputtering plane strands him in the Sahara Desert. Beginning with a simple request to draw a sheep, the Little Prince shares stories of his adventures through the galaxy. Through his cherished Rose (Conallen), a fox seeking friendship (Scammell), and a mysterious snake (Martinez-Briggs), he learns unexpected lessons about love, connection, and what can be seen only with the heart.
For Urnov, the story raises a question that becomes increasingly important as people grow older: Are we still able to see magic? Can we still imagine the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary?
“There is something about the idea of all ages theater,” said Urnov. “I don't know if there is any other text that fits this idea better because you read this book so differently when you're very young and then when you're a grown-up. And it works for all ages; the book itself.”
The story contrasts the natural wonder of childhood with the increasingly practical, sometimes narrow perspective of adulthood.
“The grown-up is kind of a bad word in this book,” Urnov laughed. “Being a grown-up is a bad thing, right? It's calling for waking up a child in each of us in its best way.”
The cast features Wilma HotHouse Acting Company members Ross Beschler, Taysha Marie Canales, Keith Conallen, Anthony Martinez Briggs, and Matteo Scammell.
The ensemble meets weekly to train, read plays and develop its craft together. That collaborative approach is a major reason Urnov was drawn to the Wilma. He first worked with the company in 2018 and has since collaborated with its actors on several productions.
“I'm a believer in the company approach to theater,” said Urnov. “Every show we did together is still in us, between us and every show other directors did in the theater is in their souls, their minds and their bodies. We're not just opening another piece, but we're building something more long-term, like a theater.”
Born in Moscow, Russia, Urnov graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts in 2000 and has lived and worked in the United States since 2009. His background in Eastern European theater continues to inform his approach to directing.
He has not returned to Russia, however, since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and said the country has become an increasingly distant place in his life.
“It's becoming a more and more distant memory for me and a more and more distant place,” he said. “The one thing I'm grateful for from Russia is the theater education. It was very strong theater schooling, a very tough one.”
Urnov grew up on the East European tradition of what theater is.
“That includes the idea of directing as an interpretive process,” he said. “The theater in Eastern Europe is different than here to some extent. There are bad things about it and there are good things about that. I'm trying to keep the good things and not the bad ones.”
With 'The Little Prince,' Urnov brings a story to life that has continued to find new meaning for generations of readers — and reminds audiences that imagination isn't something they have to leave behind as they grow up.
“The Little Prince itself — at least from where I come from — it's one of the most important texts and it's always tempting to try to do it on stage," he said. “It's so big and so important that how you do that is a challenge. It is both a dream and a challenge.”
'The Little Prince' will be on stage at the Wilma Theater, 265 S Broad Street, from Nov. 17 to Dec. 6. For information and tickets, visit wilmatheater.org
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