Adventure Theatre MTC, a nonprofit producing theater for young audiences in Glen Echo, Maryland, kicks off its milestone 75th anniversary season with Beatrice Likes the Dark. This world premiere play by Helen Hayes Award winner Dani Stoller is based on April Genevieve Tucholke’s acclaimed 2022 children’s book of the same name. Directed by Patrick Flynn, the play tells the story of Beatrice, a young girl who is overwhelmed by the bright, loud, and busy atmosphere of daytime. When darkness arrives, Beatrice’s boundless imagination comes to life, forming a magical universe. Ahead of the production’s October 2 opening night, DC Theater Arts’ Julia Tucker spoke with Stoller, who is making her debut as a playwright for young audiences with this production. This interview has been edited for clarity, length, and flow.
Julia Tucker: Beatrice Likes the Dark is your first show written specifically for young audiences. What made you choose this particular story, and what inspired you to adapt the children’s book for the stage?
Dani Stoller: That’s a great question! I’ve always thought that magic was real, and I just always felt like a little witch. I remember going to Salem for the first time when I was very young and just feeling like, “This is where I belong,” and that never really went away. I was always somebody who thought spells and magic existed, and that magic is something that becomes stronger when we work together. I came across this book around the time that my goddaughter — I forget exactly what age she was — but when I found this book, it immediately made me think of her. My friends were starting to have children, and I thought, “God, it’s so magical what people’s bodies are doing, building these lives, and how brilliant these kids are.” It just tapped me into a different side of myself as a writer, because the writing that I do a lot of the time focuses through a feminist lens and the female experience. It’s generally the violence and sadness that is inherent with being a woman versus the magic and joy of being somebody who can make magic things happen, and then I came across this story about two sisters who interpret magic differently. It just really excited me, and I thought, “I want to do this.” I wrote to my agents, and I said, “Can we get the rights to this?,” and then I wrote to Kurt Boehm (Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre MTC) and said, “I really want to do this. Can we do this?” So that’s how that happened.
Beatrice Likes the Dark has become a beloved children’s book. What have been some of the greatest challenges and rewards of bringing this story to the stage?
Beatrice Likes the Dark is so adorable and so lovely. It doesn’t actually have a huge conflict. Both daughters…one likes the dark, and one likes the light, but it’s not like there’s some force that they have to fight together. It’s really just that they explain what one of them likes, what the other one likes, and that by the end, they’re saying, “But we can like different things and still like each other.” It’s really just this beautiful poem about two sisters who are different but coexist. I love that, and I thought, “Oh, we need something that’s a little bit theatrical to give them a common enemy, to create an obstacle within the structure of the story that teaches them that they need to both utilize the light and the dark in order to fully inhabit the magical world, and to make the most of their powers and their relationships.” What wound up happening was that we had to expand the world and give them teachers and a common thing that they are fighting against…that they need both the light and the dark to traverse and overcome. That was the most difficult thing…”How do I crack this world open so that I’m still being authentic to this incredible book and also make sure that we’re following a theatrical storyline that goes beyond the beautiful, poetic nature of the original book?”
Many of your previous plays have explored more serious plots and subject matter. What made you decide to take on the challenge of writing for young audiences, and how did you adapt your approach as a playwright?
When Kurt (Boehm) mentioned to me, “We would love for you to write something for Adventure,” I thought, “Are you sure?” But I feel like this is something that’s been a long time coming, because I was fortunate enough to get the Teen Performance Company commission at Round House (Theatre), and I’m the current writer for Signature in the Schools (at Signature Theatre) — this will be my fifth or sixth year. I had written for high schoolers and college-aged students, which allows for a little more openness. But I thought, “This is a real challenge,” and I think people believe that TYA (Theater for Young Audiences) is easy, and it’s not. I think sometimes we use adult themes as a crutch because we can use that shock value to maybe make something seem deeper than it is. With this, it was like, “How do you write something where you have to veer away from all the things that just seem simple and inherent in the way that we write…that I write as a playwright… and instead, make this something that a child can truly relate to, but also an adult can enjoy?” I thought that was a great challenge, because I love Pixar movies… I love films that kids watch and that their parents also love. So that was the big challenge…how do I write something that will touch a whole family? That was why I thought, “OK, yes, I can do this. I’m going to take this challenge on, and I’m going to stop using four-letter words” (laughs).
How did you feel when you learned that Beatrice Likes the Dark would be the opening mainstage production of Adventure Theatre MTC’s 75th anniversary season?
Oh my gosh — I was over the moon! I mean, are you kidding? And to have it around Halloween… what an honor! They (Adventure Theatre MTC) do such brilliant work. They’ve been doing brilliant work since their inception as a theater. This cast is incredible. I just feel so overjoyed to be a part of it, and I keep talking about how if “little me” could see this, she would pass out. As much as I’m writing this as “adult me,” it’s also for “little me.” I think there’s something very healing. This is for the little witch that felt alone, and now it’s for the other little weirdos. I’m over the moon!
In addition to your career as a playwright, you have extensive experience as a stage actor. How do these two sides of your career intersect, and how have they inspired one another?
I think as an actor, it can be very easy to focus on “What is my job? What is my motivation? Why am I doing this?” When you’re writing as a playwright, so much else comes into play. It opens up your entire scope of what is important and all the different jobs that work together to create this space. Immediately, it becomes so evident how much work goes into everything. I mean, I look at Kenny Neal’s sound design and Dom Ocampo’s set, and the incredible work that our crew does, that (stage manager) Shannon Saulnier does. It’s just so exciting. You truly get to see the village. When I go in as an actor, I think it makes me a better ensemble member and a better collaborator because I’m just so much more aware of all the moving parts that I don’t think I was as aware of when I was solely working as an actor and just sort of writing for fun.
You’re originally from Brooklyn, New York, and relocated to the DMV after graduating from Ithaca College. What brought you to the area, and what has it been like building your career here?
What brought me to the area was a boy, a relationship that failed, but I stayed. But it’s been awesome, because I think that the thing I love most about the DC theater community is that it’s basically a tri-state rep company. We’ve got Baltimore, we’ve got Maryland, we’ve got Virginia, we’ve got DC, and all of these incredible mini theater ecosystems working in one natural ecosystem. It’s so exciting to be able to dip your toes in all of these different pools. Beyond that, I think it’s a space where you get to be multi-hyphenate. I don’t know if there was anywhere else I could’ve built these two career paths at the same time, been a professor at CUA (Catholic University of America), taught in other spaces, and done masterclasses. I mean, it’s just so wonderful. There’s such a beautiful patchwork, and that’s what’s been leading me outside. I would not have gone Off-Broadway had it not been for the relationships that I built here. I wouldn’t have been able to go to Miami New Drama, Barrington Stage, or any of the other myriad of places that I have been able to go if it had not been for the relationships that I built in the DMV. I’m just forever grateful for that.
What do you hope young audiences and their families take away from Beatrice Likes the Dark, and what would you say to families who are considering coming to see the production?
I would say that I hope they take away that magic is real, spells can come to fruition, and that they have a better chance of working if we’re working together. I would say that if you’re considering bringing your kids, this is for the little dreamer kids. This is for the kids who believe they have the power to enact change. This is a show that says, “Yes, you do, and the way that you do that is through working with others, even those that you might not totally agree with.” That’s when magic is strongest.
Beatrice Likes the Dark plays weekend and weekday matinees (except 7 p.m. on Friday, October 2) from October 2 to November 1, 2026, at Adventure Theatre MTC (located in Glen Echo Park*), 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD. Tickets ($27 each) can be purchased online or by calling the box office at 301-634-2270.
Recommended for ages 5 and up.
* Follow the bridge into the park. Adventure Theatre MTC is on the left, past the carousel, under the tallest red towers. With small children, allow 10 minutes to walk through the park to the theater.
Beatrice Likes the Dark
Written by Dani Stoller
Based on the book by April Genevieve Tucholke
Directed by Patrick Flynn
SEE ALSO:
A sweet, magical ‘Beatrice Likes the Dark’ at Adventure Theatre (review by Eric Colchamiro, October 9, 2026)
Adventure Theatre MTC announces 75th season lineup (news story, June 5, 2026)
