Around 1906, an exceptionally smart little girl named Opal Whitely was living in the middle of Oregon in a lumber camp. She grew to love the animals and nature that were all around her and wrote about her days roaming the woods in her diary.

"The Morningtime of Now," a world premiere puppet play based on Opal Whitely's diaries, is being produced by Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre, 8 p.m. May 22 - 25 and 2 p.m. May 25, 26, Charles A. Brown IceHouse, 56 River St., Sand Island, Bethlehem

Anne Hills, a nationally-known Lehigh Valley-based folksinger, in 2006 recorded "Beauty Attends," a CD of 14 original songs using Opal's words set to music by Michael Smith.

Doug Roysden, a master puppeteer, founder and director of the Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre, ran into Hills about three years ago and saw great potential in her idea for Opal's story to be a play. Some of the songs from Hills' "Beauty Attends" CD became the basis of "The Morningtime of Now."

Hills collaborated with Roysdon and actor Kayla Prestel, who recently completed an apprenticeship at Touchstone Theatre, Bethlehem. The play uses puppetry, music and text to explore themes of nature, companionship and the cycle of life through the eyes of a young girl at the turn of the 20th century.

"The show carries a message about the inherent wisdom and wonder in a child's awareness of nature," says Hills.

Roysdon carved 28 puppets from blocks of pine and constructed the complex body mechanisms that onstage puppeteers operate.

Prestel operates the Opal Whiteley puppet and performs most of the speaking script in the one-hour show. Musician Jay Hantzel plays fiddle and harp. Hills sings.

Touchstone Theatre actors Mallory DeForest, Jordan Orth and Cathy Restivo operate puppets representing the animals that Opal named after characters from history such as William Shakespeare, Peter Paul Rubens and Felix Mendelssohn.

"This play brings together puppetry, storytelling and song," Roysden says. "It's an adult show in which adults bring their kids, not a show for kids that adults come along to. There is a real emphasis in the play on the adult perspective on childhood."

One of Roysden's favorite parts of the play is the exploration of Opal's friendship with a blind girl. The blind girl and Opal are able to fly through the clouds as their puppets appear suspended in mid-air.

"Everything in the play is about space and light," says Roysden. "Everything is brought to life through light. When the light goes off, the puppets disappear."

"It's a very tight production, a combination of stage action and instrumental music. There is an almost mythical quality to the story. In the end, it's a family show that is a lot of fun, but also serious in its intent," Roysden says."

Tickets: 610-867-8208