Centenary Stage Company’s Young Audience Series returns to the Little Theater on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m. to present a mesmerizing adaptation of A Thousand Cranes.

A Thousand Cranes is the true story of young Japanese girl Sadako Sasaki, who inspired an international peace movement. A Thousand Cranes combines Japanese and American language, music and dance, and highlights Japanese society in the aftermath of World War II.

Sadako was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. When she later developed radiation sickness, Sadako remembered an old story: if a person will just make 1,000 origami cranes, the gods will grant her a wish and make her healthy. Sadako did not live to finish her cranes, but her friends took up the task and built a monument for her and all the children killed by the atomic bomb.

Written by Kathryn Schultz Miller, A Thousand Cranes is based on the book by Eleanor Coerr.

A Thousand Cranes is part of the Centenary Stage Company’s Young Audience Series developed in collaboration with Centenary University’s Theater Department to produce a theater outreach program for neighboring communities and schools.

Tickets for A Thousand Cranes are $12.50 for adults and $10 for children under 12.  The performance on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m. will be held in the Little Theater located on the campus of Centenary University at 400 Jefferson St., Hackettstown.

For more information or to purchase tickets for this or other events, visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979-0900. The box office is located in the Lackland Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown. The CSC box office is open Monday through Friday from 1-5 p.m. and two hours prior to every performance.