In the United Kingdom, community theaters are called amateur dramatic societies, but the challenges remain the same as in the U.S. What, other than sex and musicals, can draw audiences to amateur productions? That is the conundrum facing a theater group in a small English town — dwindling audiences, meager ticket sales and competition from…

“Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere.” Margaret Wise-Brown’s tiny and tender children’s book “Goodnight Moon” is familiar to generations of children and parents. In seven stanzas, Wise-Brown introduced entranced readers to the great Green Room inhabited by bears, kittens, mittens, a toy house, a mouse, a comb and a brush, a bowlful of mush…