Opal is a very, very sweet old lady.

"One of the things she says is, ‘I've made my life promising not to say a bad thing about anyone,'" said Jene Robocker, who plays the quirky Opal Kronkie in the latest Georgia Mountain Players' production, "Everybody Loves Opal." "I think she's just a wonderful, wonderful person. She's just as simple as can be, and she believes only the best about everybody."

Only problem is, that sweet, simple side can easily get this old lady into trouble.

And such is the situation in the Mountain Players' production, which opens this weekend at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville. Opal, who lives next door to the town dump and has a tendency to take lots of its "treasures" home, meets up with three crooks who decide to try and make a little money off her. The three befriend her and take out a life insurance policy on her - then proceed, in their own bumbling way, to try and dispose of poor Opal.

"There are a couple of neat twists and things that are done, but it's probably one of the most fun sets we've put together just because it's ... trash," director Linda Smith said. And Smith added that even though this is the third time the Georgia Mountain Players have produced the show, there are some original lines added to spice up the ending.

The set is a conglomeration of grandma's afghans, vintage artwork and posters and just plain old junk. It's all part of the props the Players have collected over the years, all of which are now serving as Opal's "friends," which she occasionally talks with during the show, Smith said.

These little "conversations" are just part of the character that Robocker has embellished during her two stints as Opal, Smith said.

"I directed the first ("Opal") we did, and when I thought of the character I thought of Jene," Smith said. "She's just such a delight when you see her dressed up - she's dressed down, but she is a delight and she talks to all of her stuff."

The three villains - played by Dianne Martin, Mike Martin and Peggy Strickland - are despicable characters but are so foolish, you just have to laugh at them.

Nancy Weeks as the doctor and John Weeks as the policeman, Opal's friends, round out the cast.

And while Opal's friends aren't around too much to help, she seems to hold her own against the crooks trying to off her for money.

"You realize their meanness, but at the same time they're such dunderheads that you can't hate them," Smith said. "And she is just the sweetest thing in the world. She doesn't see evil; she just sees goodness in everybody."