Rarely are people as passionate about the books they read as adults as they are about those they read as children. That makes Prime Stage Theatre's mission of literary adaptation all the more challenging.

	'A Wrinkle In Time' Where: Prime Stage Theater, Sci-Tech Festival at Carnrgie Science, North Shore When: Through May 1; Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets: $10-$19; 412-771-7373.

Favorite stories, such as Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" have lived in many people's imaginations for as long as they can remember. So it's really quite an accomplishment that director Lynn DeBree can take such a magical tale and maintain much of its magic.

Much of the credit goes to Brian Wongchaowart, a high school senior, and artistic director Wayne Brinda. Their adaptation is very true to L'Engle's text; taking much of the dialogue straight from the novel.

Out of theatrical necessity, they drop some characters, but the story of Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend, Calvin, remains intact.

Thanks to the partnership with the SciTech Festival and the Carnegie Science Center, the intergalactic hunt for Meg and Charles' father, a physicist lost in the darkness of space, held captive by evil forces in the universe, is wonderfully exciting. Explosions, a bubbling brain and Sarah McDonald's costumed creatures provide visual thrills.

DeBree uses the Science Center's Works Theater to the fullest. Action takes place in the center, in the aisles and various locations throughout the space. Unfortunately the theater's little plastic, backless stools, while easy to shift, are rather unforgiving. Grown-up minds may retain a childlike quality, but backs tend to act their age. The production also utilizes fog and strobe lights, which may bother some audience members.

It also helps if you already know the story. These are young actors and the dialogue doesn't always come across as clearly as it might.

Chelsea Lane (Meg) and Andrew McNally (Calvin) do a nice job of creating a tight-knit group among the space travelers. One of the biggest roles, though, belongs to Bobbie Lincoln as Charles Wallace. Lincoln, only a second-grader, is adorable and works hard, but is perhaps a little too young to not be distracted by the audience and to continuously relate to the other actors on stage. Still, "A Wrinkle in Time" is a lot of fun and L'Engle's vision of a world in which love always triumphs over evil is as uplifting as ever.