I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen “Our Town,” Thornton Wilder’s much-loved tale of love and marriage, and life and death in a New Hampshire village in the early 20th century. Most of the dialogue is stored away in my head; so I am always amazed when it pulls me in again as it always does when a production draws that magical thread that connects Grovers Corners, New Hampshire, to anywhere else in the world, even Napa, California, in the year 2007.

What makes the Napa Valley College production exceptional — in addition to an excellent cast and imaginative staging by director Sharon Winegar — is the way “Our Town” became Napa as much as Grovers Corners when it opened Friday night on the college stage.

 Even as the Stage Manager (William Shea in a strong, thoughtful performance) began to describe the residents of Grovers Corners in the year 1905, I was watching the cast assembled on stage and I found myself thinking, “Yes, there’s Mrs. Rogers; it will be fun to watch Napa High renowned drama teacher perform. And with her son, Jay, on stage too. Travis Rogers must be somewhere in the audience. Is that Loretta Long, the woman who gave my daughter so many rides during rehearsals for ‘As You Like It’ last summer?’ And there’s Paul Loomis — it’s a wonder that a lawyer can be such a good actor — or is it? And Kevin Barney — isn’t he the father of Nolan? Jillian Jones — I know she’ll be good — I hope so since she’s the Register’s new education reporter. And Jillian’s sister Lizzi is in the cast too …”

At this point someone tapped me on the shoulder, and it was my neighbor Myrna Abramowitz, who said, “I see Kevin Courtney is here too. Which one of you is writing the review?”

This is when it occurred to me that we, in the audience, weren’t just watching “Our Town”; we were “Our Town.”

In a subtle but artful twist, Winegar expands on the theatricality of “Our Town,” by expanding the play within a play approach. Before the show, the cast appears warming up on stage, partly in costume, partly in street clothes. In the first act (“Daily Life”) they are sitting on folding chairs on the stage, waiting for their time to perform. The assistant stage manager Lauren Turigliatto is sitting on stage as well, providing sounds — the train whistle, the coconut shell hoofbeats. Gradually as the play unfolds, the production takes shape; by the time of the wedding which is the climax of Act II (“Love and Marriage”), the cast is in full costume, and for the moving third act is — well, as fully staged as the minimalist “Our Town” always is, with the residents of the Grovers Corners graveyard sitting on their folding chairs.

This is a touching and effective production of the story that is deceptively simple and by its end manages to impress the audience with the notion that “something is eternal … and it has something to do with human beings.”

The cast is wonderful, and I would write this even if Jillian Jones’ desk wasn’t a few feet away from mine. It’s a treat to watch such a polished performer as Sharon Rogers, who plays the role of Mrs. Webb, with wonderful flashes of that dry humor. Kevin Barney, as Mr. Webb, editor of the Grovers Corners newspaper, is a kinder, gentler journalist than most of us are wont to be.

In the neighboring house, live the Gibbs — engaging performances by Paul Loomis and Loretta Long as the town doctor and his wife who wants, before she dies, to “see some place where they don’t speak English.” Lizzi Jones makes a too-brief sparkling appearance as the lively Gibbs daughter, but it’s the romance between George Gibbs (Jay Rogers) and Emily Webb (Jillian Jones) that is at the heart of the play, so to speak. Rogers portrays George — the quintessential American kid who loves baseball, farming and the girl next door — with an irresistible energy and humor but mines the roles for its emotional depths. Jones, as his romantic counterpart, skillfully handles the most challenging role in the production, taking Emily from the bright young school girl to the nervous bride trying to persuade her papa to run away with her to the emotional woman viewing life from her premature grave.

Also in the cast are Sam Burch, Steve Cairns, Agapito de la Garza, Mary Ewart, Erik Gist, Reed Gordon, Josh Jones, Donica Lumba, Kalin Mitchell, Gary Prado, Mary Shea and Alouisa Sahagun.

“Our Town” performances continue Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Napa Valley College Little Theater. Tickets are $10-$12. For reservations, call 259-8077.