SOLANA BEACH -- Riding the rails, young love, the rise of radio as sales device and social networking tool, and Irish storytelling converge in John Olive’s “The Voice Of The Prairie,” at North Coast Repertory Theatre through June 20.

Lynne Griffin directs.

Jason Maddy, David Meyers and Amanda Sitton play about a dozen characters in various American cities in this nostalgic journey that jumps back and forth between 1895 and 1923.

The play follows the lives and fortunes of Davey (Maddy) and Frankie (Sitton) – who may be magical, mystical, real or imaginary – back when the railroad was king and the new-fangled radio featured sales pitches for seeds and farm equipment (and maybe an occasional storyteller).

Davey grows up listening to his Irish grandfather Poppy (Meyers) spin tales to feed his habit (liquor) and occasionally his stomach. Frankie, blind and abused by her father, is nonetheless a spunky little spitfire with a daredevil spirit. Together they ride the rails, steal watermelons, tempt fate and get into all sorts of mischief, until their last escapade gets them into trouble and separates them.

The magic of young love isn’t so terribly different from the mystery of the ether and those strange wooden radio boxes that began to “pull ghosts out of the sky” in the 1920s. Both are difficult to explain, but everybody loves both, especially the adult Davey (now known as David and played by Meyers), who has been conscripted by entrepreneur and unlicensed radio broadcaster Leon (Maddy) to continue in Poppy’s footsteps and tell stories – but now on the air: stories of two kids on the prairie, adventure, loss, regret and nostalgia.

Sitton never makes a false step and is a pleasure to watch here, as she transitions from Frankie the child to Frances the adult with style and grace.

Meyers is terrific as Poppy, the willing storyteller, and as David, the somewhat reluctant one who gets so good at it that NBC entrepreneur David Sarnoff comes to call.

But the show belongs to Maddy, whose switch from young Davey to fast-talking Leon is head-spinning. But that’s nothing compared to his portrayals of Frances’ wheezy husband James and a no-nonsense jailer, who opines about Leon the best line in the play: “I don’t think he’s got all his dogs barkin.’”

For director Griffin, this is a journey of another sort. In 1988, she played Frankie at the Old Globe – and later married her Davey, Sean Sullivan.

“The Voice Of The Prairie” is a gentle, nostalgic look at the past with neither pretensions nor intent of profundity or edginess. Thanks to Griffin and her fine cast, it offers a lovely journey.

The details

“The Voice Of The Prairie” plays through June 20 at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach.

Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m.

For tickets, call (858) 481-1055 or visit www.northcoastrep.org