Life isn’t always a cakewalk, but Theatre B suggests we light some candles and celebrate anyway.

That’s the lesson behind playwright Noah Haidle’s “Birthday Candles,” now showing at Theatre B through Dec. 21.

“Birthday Candles” follows Ernestine Ashworth from age 17 to 107, all without leaving her Grand Rapids, Mich., kitchen.

“In the life of Ernestine, small, fleeting moments and daily habits seem inconsequential, but over the span of a lifetime, they become her life’s substance,” said Monika Browne-Ecker, Theatre B managing director. “She spends her 17th birthday fretting over her smallness in the universe. In an instant, she’s 18. Then 41. Then 70. Then 101.”

In between that long, well-lived life is the stuff of the human experience. Audiences will find themselves celebrating alongs

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