ELKINS — The Elkins High School Theatre will premiere their production of “The Velveteen Rabbit” starting this Thursday.

The show will run through Saturday. The Thursday and Friday performances will begin at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. at the school.

The Saturday performance will be a matinee, beginning at 3 p.m., with doors opening at 2:30 p.m. Tickets for the show can be bought at the door.

Based on the 1921 children’s book, “The Velveteen Rabbit, or How Toys Become Real,” by Margery Williams, the play follows “a toy rabbit (who) really wants to become real, but he also loves his human boy,” Elkins High School’s Theatre Director Jennifer Armstrong told The Inter-Mountain.

When asked why she chose this show for her students to perform, Armstrong explained that the story comes from a classic book that adults and kids alike will “hopefully be excited” to see performed onstage. Armstrong added that her students were “very excited” when they learned what show they would be doing.

“We’ve had a little bit of everything,” Armstrong said when asked what her students have had to learn for this show. “Singing and dancing, of course, but I’ve also had kids design costumes, build set pieces and paint a backdrop. (You should see) how much work the tech kids put into the set!”

Armstrong admitted that her students are facing the typical show opening jitters, but added that they have worked hard. Armstrong said she has confidence in their abilities and in the show overall.

The week after this show’s run, the Elkins High School Theatre will be outfitted with a brand new lighting system, paid for through a grant from the Snowshoe Foundation.

“We’re always looking for sponsors to help pay for things,” Armstrong said. “Theatre can be expensive. We’re finally going to replace our lights very soon. After that, every dollar we save will be going towards getting new (stage) curtains.”

When asked if there were any hints she could give in regard to what the Elkins High School Theatre’s spring semester show will be, all Armstrong would say was that it is going to be a classical piece. Last spring, the program premiered William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”