TOPSHAM — Midcoast Youth Theater has assembled a cast of local middle-school students for its production of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof, Jr.” Performances will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, and Friday, Aug. 21, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at Mt. Ararat High School.

The show is a youth edition of the Broadway classic by Joseph Stein, with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Set in the village of Anatevka, the play centers on the life of Tevye, a poor dairyman, who strives to instill in his five daughters the traditions of his tight-knit Jewish community, despite the influence of social changes and the growing threat of anti-Semitism in czarist Russia.

Striking universal chords about community, tradition, tolerance and faith, the show features such well-known songs as “Tradition,” “Matchmaker,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sabbath Prayer” and “Sunrise, Sunset.”

Tevye (played by Ben Proctor) and his wife, Golde (Sophie Simmons), are joined on stage by their daughters Tzeitel (Natalie Schmidt), Hodel (Ali Parker), Chava (Lily Gardiner), Shprintze (Ally Collins) and Bielke (Amberly Shea). Other characters include the matchmaker, Yente (Tessa Hauptman); Lazar Wolfe (Eli Bush), the butcher chosen to be Tzeitel’s husband, even though she wants to marry Motel, the tailor (Zack Fisher); Perchik (Matthew Estabrook), the idealistic student radical who falls in love with Hodel; Fyedka (David Zimmerman), the young Russian soldier who becomes romantically involved with Chava; the village Rabbi (Evan Lichter); the Constable (Judah Merrill); and the Fiddler (Teresa Murphy).

The cast also includes Hannah Cain, Charlotte Cooney, Rebecca Schuman, Hannah Zimmerman, Dash Jorgensen, Hannah Vilas, Meg Sawicki, Alyssa Curit, Kate Lord, Claire Mendes, Jessica Wright, Evelyn Atwood, Deirdre Sachs, Nadine Bellevue, Mary Yvonne Sasso, Summer Becker, Celeste Bouthot, Gabrielle Bouthot, Azaria Dotson, Emily Emerson, Sarah Emerson, Izzy Jorgensen, Corinne Latti and Olivia Muschell.

Henry Eichman directs the ensemble, with assistance from choreographer Pam Tondreau, music director David Olsen Petrowski, and stage manager and student director Emily Bowie. Isabelle Schmidt is costume coordinator.

Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.youth-theater.org.