It is, of course, rare, to hear one speak -- in a positive fashion -- of a play as having aspired to cuteness and having succeeded, but let this be that rare occasion, as certainly Prime Stage's adaptation of "A Little Princess" is that show.

		'A Little Princess' Where: Prime Stage Theatre at 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. When: Tonight 7:30; Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 2:30 p.m. sold out Tickets: $8-$15. 412-394-3353.

Set in a quasi-Dickensian London of the past, complete with street urchins, boarding schools and uncomfortable looking, no-nonsense high-laced black boots for every girl who graces the stage, the play tells the story of young Sara Crewe.

Played with an emotional yet gentle immediacy by Katherine Whittam, Sara is dropped off at Miss Minchin's School for Girls at the play's opening. The play traces her life at the school as she gets to know its other students and deals with a family tragedy.

The set is compact and effective, with the main stage functioning well as the main room of the school and a small scroll of backdrop rolling up to reveal an attic space.

A cast of nine young women lend their talents to the production. Whittam herself is in only the eighth grade, and her eight cast mates playing the other girls at the school range from fifth to ninth grade. Both Hannah Jo Weisberg and Sarah Cornell deploy appropriately snarky British accents with fine results while Eliana Raizel Latterman notably brings the tortured kindness of "the unpopular girl" to her portrayal of Sara's only friend, Ermengarde.

Amongst the adults, Nancy Mimless, as Miss Minchin, and Erin Fleming, as her cook, develop a humorous and largely nonverbal mutual antagonism. Mimless musters a stark and distant sort of casual cruelty, which marks her as just the right sort of headmistress from the start.

Most remarkable, though, is the incorporation of a Jim Martin (of "Sesame Street") puppet in the play's second act. The small figure, a monkey, is operated on stage by Lisa Feruggia, clad all in black, and serves as a playful reminder of Sara's happier childhood in India.

The packed audience at a matinee performance of the show was notably young, female and attentive, complete with a significant contingent from a local Brownie troop. It seemed nearly every child paid rapt attention, though they were of course, most audibly pleased by the monkey.