In the midst of staging an ambitious production of “Beauty and the Beast,” Western Washington Center for the Arts Director Jan Ewen was hard at work on the next production, “James and the Giant Peach.”

It opened March 3, and runs weekends through April 2 at the theater in Port Orchard.

There was not a full length stage version of the Roald Dahl classic available, so Ewen set about writing one.

“I tried to stay as close to the book as possible,” she said. “I tried to keep a lot of his language and poetry.”

Ewen, along with her husband Bruce and son Peter, also wrote a musical score for the play.

“It’s fun to do these fantasy things, and figure out how to portray them,” she said.

She had her work cut out for her on this one, bringing to life the fantastical story of James, whose parents are killed by a rampaging rhinoceros on the streets of London, and is sent to live with his horrible relatives, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker.

James is given some magical “seeds,” which he spills and are absorbed into the roots of a scraggly peach tree. A giant peach grows, and grows and grows, until it’s the size of a house.

The peach is cozily inhabited by six bugs, whom James befriends.

With James as their leader, the bugs and the peach hit the road, on a fantastic voyage of discovery.

James is played by 11-year-old Adam Caswell of Gig Harbor, while his awful aunts are played by Dan Estes (Sponge) and Shane Hall (Spiker).

Ewen said they wanted to make the aunts as horrible as possible, and decided the best way to do that was to have them played by men.

Caswell has just come off a run as Oliver Twist in a Gig Harbor production of “Oliver,” which comes in handy as he is able to use the same English accent for James.

Caswell had high praise for Ewen’s set design.

“It’s one of the funnest sets I’ve been on,” he said. “It’s like a big jungle gym.”

Playing the bugs are Jenny Woodruff, ladybug; Ryan Scott, centipede; Rachel Ewen, spider; Drake Haren, earthworm; Paige Henderson, glow-worm; and Dennis Caswell, old green grasshopper.

James Koop acts as the narrator for the show, as well as the part of Old Man.

As with Dahl’s other beloved story, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach” is a story of a young boy taking charge of his life to overcome bleak circumstances.

Ewen said the story also carries a message of friendship, and how important the support of friends are. It’s also about accepting those friends as they are, even if they are very different from oneself.

“They’re all very different, but they work together,” Ewen said.

“James and the Giant Peach” plays weekends through April 2 at the Western Washington Center for the Arts, 521 Bay St., Port Orchard.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 5 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $12 adults, $10 seniors, students and active military, available by phone at (360) 769-7469. wu