A little rabbit made of velveteen cloth is at the center of our next production, and it carries a question children have been asking for generations: What makes something real?
The Velveteen Rabbit runs September 11-13 at The Spotlight Playhouse, with performances Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. It is the first show in Spotlight on Faith, a new program at Spotlight Acting School.
A familiar story, a new series
Spotlight on Faith is not being introduced as a lecture. It is being introduced through a story.
In the series’ vision, faith can mean the courage to hope, the trust that people can change, and the belief that every person has worth. Those ideas do not belong to one age group or one kind of churchgoing life. They belong to families, neighbors, teachers, grandparents, and anybody who has ever needed somebody else to believe in them.
That is why this story is a fitting first. Margery Williams’ 1922 children’s book gives the question a simple setting: a child receives a stuffed rabbit, loves it, and gradually changes the toy’s understanding of what it means to be real. The story has been adapted for the stage many times. Ours gives Berea audiences a chance to see that familiar tale through the work of local performers.
A toy that carries a grown-up question
The rabbit’s wish is simple. He wants to be real.
The Skin Horse’s wisdom is not. In the story, becoming real is not about looking new or being admired. It is about being loved until the love changes you. The rabbit is a toy, but the question is one that follows a person from childhood into adulthood: Who sees me? Who stays? What happens when I am no longer shiny, useful, or easy to love?
That is why this story works for a community theater audience. A family may come because a child knows the rabbit. A parent may come because the story reminds them of a toy they once carried everywhere. A grandparent may come because the Skin Horse sounds like somebody they knew.
A stage that looks more like a family table
One of the special things about this production is its intergenerational cast. The published cast list brings together child, teen, and adult performers, including Ella Graft as Child, Ava Howell as the Velveteen Rabbit, Paula Davis as Mom, Daniel Marcum as Dad, Rebecca Fanshire as Nana, and Chad Hembree as Toy Soldier. The cast also includes young performers in roles such as the Cat, Robot, and three monkeys.
That matters because the story itself is about what happens between generations. The child loves the rabbit. The older Skin Horse understands what that love can mean. The family has its own place in the story, too.
When different ages share the stage, the audience gets to see that exchange happen in real time. A young performer is not simply being taught by an older performer. The older performer is also being reminded of something. That is one of the quiet gifts of community theater: the work can move in both directions.
The room is part of the story
The Spotlight Playhouse at 214 Richmond Road in Berea is an intimate setting. The audience is not watching from a distant stadium seat. The room brings people close to the work, close enough to hear the pauses and see the small choices that make a character feel like a person.
For The Velveteen Rabbit, that closeness is a good match. This is not a story that needs to shout to be heard. It is a story about a child and a toy, about tenderness and time, about the difference between being looked at and being known.
The production is family-friendly and runs approximately one hour, making it an approachable first theater experience for young children while leaving room for older audience members to find their own meaning.
Good to know before you go
The Velveteen Rabbit runs September 11-13, 2026, at The Spotlight Playhouse, 214 Richmond Road, Berea, Kentucky 40403. Performances are Friday, September 11, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 12, at 7:00 p.m.; and Sunday, September 13, at 2:00 p.m. The show is family-friendly and runs approximately one hour.
Friday performances are Pay What You Can, with name-your-own-price admission. Unsold tickets are released two hours before showtime. Wheelchair-accessible seating with companion space is available in the front row. If you have special needs, the theater asks that you let them know when you arrive.
BereaOnline wrote about this production too. You can read their perspective here: The Velveteen Rabbit brings a new faith series to Spotlight Playhouse.
The Velveteen Rabbit wants to become real. In Berea, this production offers a chance to remember that the people who love us are often the ones who help us become it.
Come see what makes something real this weekend.