The Stables at Hartwood Acres display beautifully on a summer day. The horses graze peacefully in the field. The rugged cobblestone of the courtyard and stone stable walls do little to divulge their age.

You could be back in 1927 when the stables were erected or even in the little Tudor village that John and Mary Flinn Lawrence commissioned architect Alfred Hopkins to use as the basis for his design.

	Heather Mull Alexander Medem, left, Joel Ripka, Dan Amboyer and Adam Berry revel in rural Hartwood for Quantum Theatre's "Le Grand Meaulnes." Click photo for larger image. 'Le Grand Meaulnes' Where: Quantum Theatre at The Stables at Hartwood Acres, Hampton. When: Through Aug. 26; Wed.-Sat. 8 p.m.; also 8 p.m. Aug. 26. Tickets: $25-$30; students $15; 412-394-3353 or www.proartstickets.org.

For Quantum Theatre, it's the home of their latest production, also a made-over import from the Old World, a world premiere adaptation by Nigel Gearing of Alain-Fournier's 1913 French novel, "Le Grand Meaulnes." (The title. pronounced somewhere between "moan" and "moln," refers to the central character and is sometimes translated as "The Wanderer" or "The Lost Kingdom.")

For this play, tech weekend -- when the technical theater elements are painstakingly and often chaotically rehearsed -- seems deceptively simple. Once again, artistic director Karla Boos has found a site seemingly a perfect fit for an unusual play.

Hay bales tumble in the center of the courtyard. Are they arranged a little too artistically for chance or utility, or is that the romance of the countryside that makes them seem so? A broken-down cart leans deserted in the grass. Is it almost too much like a painting? Whichever, the romantic atmosphere fits the play's rural schoolhouse and magical summer nights.

The only absolute giveaway of Quantum's presence are the risers that flank one side of the courtyard -- those and the troop of attractive young people filling them.

For "Le Grand Meaulnes," director Di Trevis, known for her work with London's Royal National Theatre and no stranger to Quantum, having directed "The Voluptuous Tango" in 2006 (and twice at CMU), has gathered a cast of Pittsburgh favorites like Sheila Mc- Kenna, Ingrid Sonnichsen, Rick Kemp and Mark Thompson, and an impressive group of young, essentially college-aged actors who speak volumes about the romance of the production in their freshness of face and brightness of eye.

Boos calls the play unabashedly romantic. The story of Augustin Meaulnes who undertakes a magical journey, it's part fantasy, part metaphor and, according to French tradition, part foreshadowing of World War I, made all the more poignant by the fact that author Alain-Fournier was killed in the war at the age of 27.

The younger actors, Dan Amboyer, Joel Ripka, Alexander Medem, Sam Trussel, Sasha Higgins and Lara Hillier, all identify with the romance and adventure of Meaulnes' journey.

Amboyer, who plays Meaulnes, is from Detroit and a recent graduate of CMU. He calls his character passionate and determined and sees the story as being one of loss of innocence and childhood. This tale of adventure has even affected his working technique. Usually, he says, he'd do lots of research and analysis. "This, you just respond to what's in front of you and just 'do'."

Ripka, who was born and raised in Milton, PA and graduated from Point Park University in 2001, agrees that the romantic atmosphere can change one's approach. Reading the novel, studying the period, are still key but, Ripka says, "Research can be just sitting on the haystack and looking at this historic building."

Medem and Trussel emphasize the adventure and journey of "Le Grand Meaulnes." Medem, who grew up in Vienna, has studied directing with Trevis, working as her assistant. This is his first time working with an American theater company. He wants to direct opera and so is naturally drawn to the play's grand scheme. "It's a tribute to fantasy and imagination," he says. "If everyone were like Meaulnes, the world would be a better place."

Trussel, a third-year CMU acting student by way of D.C. and Boston, says that the play speaks to the pitfalls of perfectionism. His character is the instrument of change, he says, "an animal that comes in and out of the play, kind of a pirate/gypsy."

The women are more emphatic about the play's unbridled romance. Sasha Higgins, originally from England and now living and working in New York, says the play is about clinging tightly to one's dreams. She plays Yvonne, who falls in love with Meaulnes and holds to the belief that he'll come back to her. She quotes Trevis, saying that everyone has an Yvonne and a Meaulnes in their lives.

"Yvonne doesn't go anywhere geographically in the play," she says. "Her adventure is falling in love with Meaulnes."

"I think everyone's adventure in the play is falling in love with Meaulnes," says Hillier, an Upper Saint Clair native in her third year at CMU. She means the characters and the actors -- and perhaps the audience, too.