Created by the company. Music by David Rhymer. An Old Trout Puppet Workshop production. At the Cultch on Wednesday, April 28. No remaining performances

There’s magic in your mouth. The Tooth Fairy transforms a commonplace childhood experience into a delightful adventure.

Abigail is a young girl whose life is every bit as perfect as her “awe-striking” perfect teeth, so beautiful that they inspire people around her to do anything she wants. She lives with her overprotective grandfather, a toothless old man who won’t let her go outside, lest she lose any part of her smile. Convinced that the Tooth Fairy is an evil force who is stealing children’s teeth, a righteously indignant Abigail decides to teach him a lesson. By the time she sets sail in her grandfather’s boat, she’s got one wiggly tooth, thanks to the gift of an apple from a stranger in the woods. Her journey careens from one adventure to the next as she is abducted by pirates, nearly swallowed by a sea monster, and stranded on an iceberg.

The liveliness of the story is matched by the inventiveness of the staging, which rarely conceals the human beings behind the puppets. For most of the show, Kyla Read, who plays Abigail, wears a little dress with a tiny pair of arms around her neck, and we can see her own hands moving Abigail’s arms. Clad in baggy, tie-dyed long johns and black skullcaps, puppeteers Léda Davies, Nicolas Di Gaetano, Len Harvey, and Teddy Valentine Ivanova sometimes function as a chorus to narrate the tale, and use all manner of devices to bring its other characters to life. The Tooth Fairy is an unforgettable creation worn atop the operator’s head, with its little legs aloft and a flying device made of a paper lantern strapped to its back. The sea monster features separate puppets for its gigantic eye, mouth, and blowhole. The more conventional puppets—like the wizened Grandfather and the bulgy-eyed, ham-handed pirates—are crafted with loving attention to detail.

David Rhymer’s music captures the show’s changing moods, from rollicking to ominous, and subtly underscores the moments of stillness that punctuate Abigail’s adventures. The exquisitely crafted wooden set celebrates old-fashioned technology, as scene changes become part of the performance; it’s beautifully lit by Cimmeron Meyer.

The Tooth Fairy celebrates both innocence and its inevitable journey toward knowledge—and it shows how much fun that trip can be.