"The Ash Girl," a modern retelling of "Cinderella," written by Timberlake Wertenbaker, is "more along the lines of the Grimm brothers," according to Marie Sproul, the play's director.

The Catonsville resident said "The Ash Girl" presents a darker version of the tale, which involves evil stepsisters and a golden shoe but no fairy godmothers or glass slippers.

Sproul, who also serves as artistic director for the OnStage company, chose the play.

Audiences should learn a valuable lesson about inner strength from the play, she said.

"Hopefully, they will come away with an awareness that a lot of time, the things that hold us back are the monsters that live within us, our own thoughts," Sproul said. "And if we can overcome those, then we can succeed in life."

It is only the second production for the year-old theater company, which Sproul, Maureen Rogers and Sarah Kendrick co-founded about two years ago.

Sproul was working at the Laurel Playhouse with Kendrick in 2005 and jokingly told the UMBC grad that they should start their own company. Rogers came on board a short time later.

Last December's "Uh-Oh, Here Comes Christmas," was the group's debut production.

The current play opened last weekend and continues Dec. 7-9 and 14-16 at St. John's United Church of Christ, 1000 S. Rolling Road.

"It's a nice twist on 'Cinderella,' very thought provoking," said Ann Marie Feild, who has two roles in the play -- an owl and a fairy.

Feild, a Catonsville resident, said she is enjoying her first production with OnStage.

So, too, is Nora Hyde, an Ellicott City high school student who plays the Ash Girl.

She enjoys the character and despite Ash Girl's "inner torment," she's easy to understand, she said.

"I think she's just very human, and everyone can sort of relate to her," said Hyde, a junior at Glenelg Country School.

Her two stepsisters are portrayed by Hyde's younger sister, Caroline, and Carolyn Duffield, a junior at Catonsville High School.

The two said they particularly enjoy their roles as tormentors.

"I like being mean," Duffield said.

The three girls said they've become friends over the six weeks of rehearsals and meetings.

For more information on OnStage Theatre, go to www.onstageplayers.org.

E-mail Scott Weybright at Scott Weybright@patuxent.com