I must be honest. I was a little worried about “Holes” when I first saw the stage.



In an effort for full disclosure, I’ll give you the full story: My daughter is showing signs of liking being on the stage as much as she does watching shows, so she auditioned for “Sound of Music” at Lakewood Playhouse earlier this year. She didn’t get the part, but I thought — being the compassionate dad I am — that she would find comfort in working backstage on the show. Lakewood Playhouse is the closest theater to my house, so that seemed the most practical although she has already participated in theater programs at Tacoma Little Theatre and Metro Parks.



Anyway, I signed her up to be an usher at the next Lakewood show as a way to introduce her to all of the other jobs associated with putting on a show in hopes that she would find something that interests her. So after a shift of vacuuming the theater lobby, folding programs and tearing tickets before the show, I put on my reviewer hat with my wide-eyed thespian by my side.



We had talked about the show on our drive to the theater. We had seen Disney’s movie version of the show and wondered out loud how the director was going to stage scenes of digging holes in a dry lake bed when the floor was solid concrete. And then there were the flashbacks that peppered the show, drawing viewers from modern times to the Old West and back again. It seemed like the director faced some staging challenges, my daughter and I thought. Such discussions beforehand always make for good car rides home since we end up talking about our expectations and the reality of the director’s vision.



Anyway, a red flag sprung up in my head when we took our seats and scanned the stage only to find the scene of a dry lake bed on the floor. There was not a grain of sand to be found.

I know staging a show with sand is troublesome. But Lakewood had done it for “To Gillian, on Her 37th Birthday” a few years ago, so I knew it could be done — although I’m sure custodians are still sweeping up sand from time to time. It just seems that having a sandbox with a few feet of dirt in it would have added a lot to the show. But alas, it was not to be. It wasn’t a fatal flaw, but it would have added so much.



The staging was minimalist to say the least; theater in the round has to be thus most of the time or otherwise risk blocking the view of someone in the seats. But there were a few great touches that made up for the few props and scenes. The fact that real water flowed from a watering hose at this corrupt boys detention facility in Texas was a nice touch — even if it accidentally sprayed on some of the audience members.



Standout performances of the mostly youth show are Henry Walker (Artistic Director Marcus Walker’s son) in the lead role of Stanley and Joseph Allegro as Zero. Standout performances from people who can vote are Scott C. Brown as Mr. Sir and Christie Flynn as the warden, who is hell-bent on getting the treasure that is buried somewhere in the desert.



Winners of the small roles don’t mean small actors are Jeffery Brown, whose brief performance as an onion peddler was simply magic, and Ronee Collins as the pioneer school teacher turned outlaw Kissing Kate Barlow. Her scene with Brown held the show together.



There were also some misfires in the show. Blake York, whom I’ve noted for his great work on “The Nerd” and “The Laramie Project,.“ But this timeone shot only blanks. He plays Mr. Pendanski, a camp counselor at the shovel-friendly detention facility. I couldn’t tell if he was a do-gooder, a villain or a mix of both because his delivery of key lines suggested all of the above.



[Lakewood Playhouse, through Nov. 11, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $15-$20, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd. S.W., Lakewood, 253.588.0042, www.lakewoodplayhouse. org]