The New York Times
Another Beloved Extraterrestrial
By LAUREL GRAEBER
October 18, 2002

Long before E.T., ALF or the ''Star Wars'' heroes, another space alien captivated the hearts of children. This one looked like a tiny human and lived on a small planet with three volcanoes and multiple sunsets. His only companion there was a histrionic and manipulative rose.

He was, of course, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Little Prince. Now he is visiting Earth again, this time at the Atlantic Theater Company.

The hourlong adaptation, directed by Bridgette Dunlap, faithfully renders Saint-Exupéry's 1943 book about an aviator's encounter with the Little Prince. Stranded in the Sahara Desert when his plane malfunctions, the pilot meets the prince, whose adventures poke fun at the stodgy world of adults. At the performance I attended, schoolchildren giggled over the prince's journeys to several planets, each inhabited by a solitary (and usually self-important) grown-up, like a businesswoman who insists on counting the stars as property. The young actors, led by Katie Honaker as the aviator and Diana Ascher as the Little Prince, delightfully embody characters ranging from roses to a snake.

But there is also a serious side to the prince's travels. It is only on Earth that he comes to comprehend love, without which there is little risk of pain but also little joy. He learns this from a fox who invites him to tame her, and their goodbyes foreshadow his parting from the aviator, who has recaptured his childhood wonder with the prince's help.

Adults could debate forever the meaning of the story's ending, which has allegorical overtones worthy of C. S. Lewis. But the Little Prince's essential message is clear to all ages: to make room for silliness, to take nothing for granted and always to leave time to smell the roses.