In Hamlet, the greatest play ever written in the English language, a young man runs the numbers and concludes that life sucketh, ere ye die. In Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst's 1972 kid-lit classic, a young man muses that while existence is indeed a string of minor catastrophes culminating in hideous death and eternal oblivion in a godless, uncaring universe, at least (Fiddle-dee-dee!) tomorrow is another day. Perhaps the lesson we grown-ups find hardest to remember is that this, too, shall pass. Poor Alexander has to learn it in the second grade.

Of course, what constitutes an awful day for kids is an above-average Monday for adults; Alexander's THNGVBD includes such hurdles as kissing on TV and a cereal box with no secret toy surprise. Hey, Alexander, not for nothin', but I owe Citibank thousands of dollars and I'm losing my hair, so lighten up, will ya?

Enough nihilism for one day; let's talk about the Olympia Family Theater production. It's cute. Now, sometimes, when we say something is cute - a Reese Witherspoon rom-com, for example - we mean it's inoffensive and a few steps down the road toward being funny. Not so with Alexander. When I say this production is cute, what I mean is it'll make both adults and children smile. I mean it entertains and delights with unexpected creative touches, and it's worth your money, and it gets folks excited about theater. Win, win, win.

Hey, kids, here's a fun theater word: Can you say "periaktoids?" A periaktoid (Greek periakto, plural periaktoi) is a rotating triangular prism with a backdrop or other scenic elements painted on it. Line a few of them up, spin them around to a new row of faces, and you have a quick, effective way of taking an audience from location to location. Jon Tallman's tech crew uses these elements well here, with scene changes handled efficiently by the ensemble. This may be Stephanie Claire's first play as a director, but she has years of experience as a musical and choir director, and it shows: the action flows smoothly throughout this arduous day in the life of a 7-year-old.

One nitpick: Given the number of props in the show, I wish Claire had found a more creative way to put "gum" in Alexander's hair. There. Nitpick over. The rest of the show just works, even when Viorst rhymes "terrible" with "gerbil." I was especially fond of Aussie flourishes and a shout-out to John Williams. Steven Wells brings constant physical commitment to his lead role, and the nine other cast members find moments to shine. Indeed, they giggle and cackle through grade-school versions of Mayhem, the obnoxious gremlin character who wreaks havoc on Allstate Insurance commercials. It's funny stuff. Hey, kids, here's another word you'll find useful as you enter the working world: schadenfreude! Fun to spell, fun to say. Thanks, Germany.

The songs are catchy, amusing and clever, if seldom connected in any meaningful way to the plot. Terri Charles has a sweet solo on the lullaby "Sweetest of Nights." Harrison Fry earns chuckles with his number, a valentine to "Lizzy Pitofsky," reminding us of his contributions to The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Capital Playhouse this winter. This OFT production is a pint-sized echo of that show, and as you know if you were fortunate enough to see Putnam, that's a good thing.

[Olympia Family Theater, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, through April 17, Thursday-Saturday 7 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m., $8.50-$15.50, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia, 360.753.8586]