Know not what to expect when the Third Street Players take to the stage Friday for the opening of “Through the Looking Glass.”

While the Lewis Carroll title might stir childhood memories of reading the sequel tale of Alice, the title is all that one should expect to be the same, because as with Carroll’s tale, the cast is hoping to prove that not everything is as it seems through the looking glass.

The show, which runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Feb. 4, includes a cast of young actors who have been collaborating for months with local artists to recreate the weird world on the other side of the looking glass.

Cast includes Kate Hodges as Alice, Marissa Wilhelm and Orson Ossman as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Erin and Laura Hilton as the Red and White Queens, Mark Arand as the White Knight and Max Cole-Takinikos as Humpty Dumpty.

The cast also includes students working as puppeteers and mine artists: Matt Bell, Ahna Dunn-Wilder, Elizabeth Grant, Cameron Gray, Noah Harris, Hillary Mellish and Samantha Yocco.

When the Third Street Players formed, the intention was to do productions that utilized the stage training that they’d received up to that point, give them opportunities they hadn’t had before and to press their creative imagination.

Director David Ossman plans to give them just that in “Through the Looking Glass.”

It was after a visit to Stratford on Avon, England in April of last year that Ossman was pricked with inspiration to adapt the classic Lewis Carroll tale. The creative possibility flowed as he watched a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” during that visit to Shakespeare’s home ground.

“It was all so magical and whirled through my head,” he said.

The show left him thinking about puppets, and his favorite literary sequel of all time “Through the Looking Glass.”

So Ossman, who has an extensive resume as a comedic writer and voice performer, sat down with visions of Alice and that looking glass running through his head.

“There was such opportunity with this production to get creative and have a collaboration with the artistic community,” Ossman said.

His tweaks on “Through the Looking Glass” also incorporate elements of other Carroll writings.

“Lewis Carroll is almost sacred text in the fact that almost everyone reads it at some point,” Ossman said. “But I wanted to make the characters bigger than they already were. And his other writings are too good to ignore.”

Cast member Marissa Wilhelm said to listen for the added verse that has been woven throughout.

The whole play plays on the opposites of things and how different creatures and items are perceived through the looking glass.

Only in Carroll’s “Looking Glass” will you find giant Jabberwocks, gnats as big as chickens, and of course — the comedy duo of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Ossman said he sees the story of 7 1/2-year-old Alice facing these creatures in her own precocious way as empowering. He said to expect a number of surprises and comedic notes from his actors.

“They have really been pushing themselves and putting their all into becoming their characters,” Ossman said.

The adaptation has also added musical elements to the production to tie together the story blocks of Alice’s journey through the mirror.

“We’re learning a lot from David and everyone has really risen to the occasion,” said Erin Hilton, who along with sister Laura will help portray the Red and White Queens.

Producer Dana Harris has had quite the job wrangling all the artists, young actors and volunteers needed to create such a dreamland.

Artists from the community — including Buffy Cribbs, Briony Cribbs, Bruce Morrow and David Gray — helped craft the puppets and scenic pieces. Liza Rosenstiel painted Alice’s fireplace. Diana Shirley worked with the cast on creating puppets and masks. Peggy Juve and Carrie Carpenter have been busy behind the sewing machine crafting the costumes. Robbie Cribbs worked directly with actor Max Cole-Takinikos to develop Humpty Dumpty.

“It’s big project, one that we would have liked to spend a year on,” said K. Sandy O’Brien, co-director of the show. “But it’s something of the imagination and a production that we will be able to continue to build on explore the possibilities in future years.”