All fairy tales follow the same format, right? There’s the wicked witch/evil stepmother, a somewhat out of it father, one or more children seeking a treasure/getting lost in the woods, a fairy/good witch who rescues them, a prince or princess and a happy ending.

But, we’re talking Changing Scene, and you know what that means. The little theater in East Bremerton is staging an original Halloween production, written exclusively for the theater by Los Angeles playwright Darren R. Schroader. His last piece at Changing Scene was one of the Summerplay one-act plays, “Warm Dense Matter.”

Pavlina Morris, Changing Scene Theater Northwest director, said the theater commissioned Schroader to write a special Halloween play for them, and “At the Witch’s House” was the result.

“Darren has done a ton of children’s plays, both acting and writing.” Morris said. She is also directing the play.

With only about a month’s lead time, Schroader produced a play which Morris describes as “very new, fresh and different,” with “very witty, fun banter between the brothers.”

“We all really, really liked it,” she said.

Schroader said by e-mail that he had good input from the crew at Changing Scene while writing the play.

“Pavlina and the cast have given me a number of great suggestions for ‘At the Witch’s House.’ They should get writing credit. It’s a great group of people.”

Schroader said the idea for the play came from brainstorming with a friend.

“We did a little reading and a whole lot of talking,” he said. “We wanted it to be scary as well as about facing fear.”

The play is Changing Scene’s first effort at providing theater for children, performed by adults. The play is suitable for all ages, although Morris said there is some humor in it for adults, too.

Probably the biggest departure from classic fairy tale format is that the witch, Apnilva, is a good witch. Apnilva is an anagram for director Morris’ first name, Pavlina. She was not amused by the appellation.

“I could have killed him for that,” she said.

The story takes place in the small burg of Rubabius Village, on Spooky Night. On this Halloween-like night, the children gather candy from the townspeople by what they call “guising,” a thinly veiled reference to “disguising,” as in Halloween costumes.

Also on that night one of the fathers, Mr. Quickly, takes huge amounts of candy to Apnilva, who lives on an island, to “protect” the children of Rubabius Village. If you think the witch wants the candy all to herself, you’d be wrong.

Because there is also a costume contest which is won by the child who gathers the most candy, a new girl in town, the sugar-loving Enid, decides it would be a good idea to go to the witch’s house to collect candy. She enlists the help of brothers Mit and Rander Quickly.

Schroader sums up the plot thusly: “Once they’re at the witch’s house the children discover the truth about what has been haunting Rubabius Village for years.”

Schroader said he didn’t draw on any specific fairy tales when writing the story, but that he wanted a storybook feel for the show. There is no set time period, and Rubabius could be a village anywhere.

“The idea that the witch isn’t necessarily an evil character was important to me and was probably informed by ‘Into the Woods’ and ‘Wicked,’” he said, citing modern stories with fairy tale elements.

Apnilva is played by Ali Budge, while Briana Osborne plays Enid. Mr. Quickly is played by Derek Niegemann.

Other actors and the characters they play are Raymond Duel as Rander, older son of Mr. Quickly; Kyle Boynton as Mit, the younger son and Darren Hembd as the “sugar demon,” Agut Snorter, as well as the voice of Tea Pot, a bat who is Apnilva’s familiar.

“At the Witch’s House” opens Oct. 27 and runs weekends through Nov. 11 at the Changing Scene Theatre Northwest, 5889 SR 303 NE, Suite 104, E. Bremerton.

Showtimes are 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. There will be special Halloween performance 7 p.m. Oct. 31, with a costume contest following the play for children ages 12 and under.

Tickets are $7 adults, $5 ages 5-14, $2 ages 4 and under. Want to wear your Halloween costume again? Wear it to any performance and receive $1 off admission. Tickets can be reserved at (360) 792-8601. Group discounts are available.