“Palazzi Ragazzi (The Palace Kids): Lost and Found in Venice” is not a story about princes and princesses in the city of canals and winged lions. Rather, the “palace” in question is an old abandoned movie theater, the Palazzo Splendido, now fallen on hard times and no longer splendid at all. This “Palazzo” is home to a gang of street kids and runaways, led by the mysterious and romantic “Pettirosso Cappucio,” an Italian Robin Hood of sorts, also known as “the Menace of Venice.”

The Splendido movie theater, and our play, is set in modern-day Venice, where an orphaned brother and sister flee the unkind relatives bent on separating them after grudgingly taking them in. Though trailed by a persistent if sympathetic detective, the Menace and his ragazzi accept one last heist that brings them to a mysterious island in the Venetian lagoon. It is on this island that they encounter a secret that will forever change their lives.

Full of action and an engaging cast of characters, “Palazzi Ragazzi” is magical theater for adults and children alike, complete with concessions highlighting Italian favorites—pizza, pizelles, and biscotti.