I don’t know why people persist in believing that The Little Prince is a children’s book. To be fair, that is how it was intended by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who wrote it in 1942. And it looks like a children’s book: large type, lots of pictures. The title character is a child.
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It’s really a book for adults. The protagonist is not the young prince but rather the middle-aged Aviator who narrates the tale. His entwined problems—one psychological (his artistic talent was thwarted as a child), the other practical (he’s crash-landed in the middle of the Sahara and can’t get his plane to fly)—are the central ones in the story.
The fact that the book is so appealing to adults may be why there have been so many attempts to adapt it to the stage and screen over the years—Stanley Donen directed a movie musical in 1974; Hugh Wheeler, Don Black, and John Barry attempted a Broadway version in 1981—and why the attempts often feel so leaden.
Through 2/2: Tue-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat-Sun 3 and 7:30 PM, check with theater for additional times and exceptions Lookingglass Theatre Company Water Tower Water Works 821 N. Michigan 312-337-0665lookingglasstheatre.org $45-$75
