Soon, islanders may spy small creatures of the fantasy sort in Oak Harbor.

A dwarf or two, a wizard, several hobbits and who knows what other shapes and names of creatures the Whidbey Playhouse might conjure up for their performance of Brainerd Duffield’s stage adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”

On March 1, 2 and 3, Playhouse staff held auditions for children to come try out for a part in “The Hobbit.”

Rebekka Handschke, the Playhouse’s youth theater development director, said auditions ran well and the the caliber of talent she and co-director Kathryn Young saw over this past week blew them away.

“The talent that we have seen is just amazing,” she said.

As parents brought their children to the Playhouse for the auditions, the lobby filled with small clusters of people filling out audition paperwork, kids joking around together, and others mouthing the words of their memorized monologues to the walls and air.

Casey Peyton, 8, said this was her first audition and she kept telling herself, “OK, it’s OK. Don’t be nervous. Control yourself. It’s just people.”

Peyton had memorized a poem for her monologue and showed off some of her dramatics.

“I think I’ll do alright,” she said.

When Handschke and Young called the young actors upstairs, they filed in and while they took their seats on the stage some whispered to others that they hoped they didn’t have to audition first.

The children had to introduce themselves, present their memorized piece and then close with a “thank you.” Kids presented poems, excerpts from story books, snatches from movie scenes and original works.

Some of the auditions went smoothly without a hitch, and others started rough and, once the child found his or her words, ended strongly. Only a few suffered from tongue-tied stage fright.

Handschke and Young offered these limelight-struck youngsters with hints and words of encouragement. If all failed and the monologue eluded the memory of the child, he or she still received an applause for effort.

“I like the butterflies,” said Taya Boonstra, 10.

Boonstra said even though she felt a little nervous, she still felt she performed well for her first audition.

“I felt very confident about myself,” she said. “I like not being myself and being someone else.”

Thus the draw of the theater. Auditions for “The Hobbit” drew 60 children.

Handschke said the difficult job she and Young have is to cut that 60 down to 42 cast members.

Once casts are made, the kids will have to commit to six weeks of rehearsals, and practices three or four times each week.

“They’ll have approximately 40 hours of rehearsal time when the play goes up,” Handschke said.

She said the group of kids who auditioned for this play set the bar high for all other auditions, and that the commitment and preparation they showed in readying themselves to present a monologue makes her think “The Hobbit” will go even better.