I think your enjoyment of The Secret Garden at Capital Playhouse will be determined almost entirely by whether or not you're already versed in The Secret Garden. Perhaps you're a fan of the Marsha Norman musical, or maybe you grew up reading the 1911 book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Unfortunately, I was in neither of those camps. The show is well produced, not as joyful or terrific as CP's last two shows, but still right in their wheelhouse. Yet as I looked around at the audience during the final scene, I saw everything from blissful tears to absolute exhaustion. It took me a while to figure out why.

This is Storytelling 101. In the first half-hour, I should know who the protagonist is, and who or what the antagonist is. I should know what the protagonist wants, and the problem standing in the way of him or her getting it. (In screenwriting, I've just outlined the first of three acts, which also lasts 30 minutes.) What the protagonist wants is so important that modern musicals often devote a whole song to it: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "I Dreamed a Dream," "Somewhere That's Green" and its sibling "Part of Your World," and so on. If Secret Garden has such a song or superobjective, I couldn't make it out.

This production does have an impressive triple threat of a protagonist, in the form of Kate Hayes's Mary Lennox. Ms. Hayes is in the fifth grade. She was in Annie and Aida, and she's dynamite. She sings beautifully, she dances like a dervish and she mastered both Hindi lyrics and a posh English accent to portray a full range of emotions. (If only the adult characters had more than a single dimension.) She carries the show on her tiny shoulders. Oly celebri-tot Clarke Hallum is likewise solid as Colin, Mary's bedridden frenemy.

What's missing is narrative drive. I spent much of the first act struggling to figure out the story. Is the house the antagonist? Are the ghosts? (Actually, I'm glad the program told me they were ghosts. That saved me further confusion.) What's does Mary want? Who's the bad guy? How are the governess and groundskeeper related? What's this about a back problem? I couldn't see it. Without a crucial goal for the heroine to pursue, it's easier to notice what would otherwise have been minor production issues.

To wit: A show this long doesn't need a 14-minute curtain speech. I've chided CP for this before, and on opening night, so did its stage manager. Director Troy Arnold Fisher is way too fond of parking actors full-open at downstage center. Bruce Haasl is multitalented but miscast as Neville - I had to be told he's the villain. A little of Katin Jacobs-Lake's arm acting goes a long way, and there's only one memorable song, "Lily's Eyes," in the first act.

If, however, you're already a Secret Garden lover, you'll probably love it here. The orchestra adds tabla for an exotic note of Indian percussion. The cast mostly convinces in a subcontinent of ethnicities and accents. Kurt Raimer, usually of Portland, has a gorgeous voice reminiscent of Mandy Patinkin, who first played Archibald. The show didn't suck me in, obviously, but your mileage may vary.

The Secret Garden

Through April 9, Wednesday–Saturday 7:30 p.m.
Sunday 2 p.m., $28–$41
Capital Playhouse, 612 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia
360.943.2744