Charlotte's Web Play

            East Tennessee State University’s theatre program this semester did Charlotte’s Web.  I was excited to see it because I had a VHS tape of it that I got out of a McDonald’s Happy Meal back many years ago. I remember after first watching the movie I wanted to grow up to be a spider for a few months because I thought Charlotte was cool. I haven’t watched the tape in years, but watching the play, I remembered a lot of the scenes, and the play was very nostalgic because of this. I also liked hearing what the children sitting around me thought, just because it was a different perspective (they also really liked it, except for this one girl sitting near me, but she was unhappy from the start and just wanted to go get a milkshake). Charlotte’s Web was overall a well-written, well-casted, and well-designed play. From the actors and their mannerisms to the costumes and the set, everything was great. The effects that Charlotte’s actress preformed were probably my favorite part of the whole thing.

            I thought the script was nicely written and that actors and actresses all did a great job preforming it. I liked how it was presented, with all the actors and actresses up on stage at the same time to present it and give insight throughout the play. The script was funny, especially the use of the puns, and the people did a great job delivering it with their facial expressions or dramatic pauses or over-the-top laughing. The play was very nostalgic for me, and throughout the play there were parts that I remembered seeing in on the VCR movie I had. Each person, individually, was chosen very well in my opinion for each part. The young, frizzy haired boy for Wilbur, the boy-ish, sarcastic-sounding girl for Templeton, the big-mouthed, curly-haired, high-pitched girl for the lamb, and the neat, calm girl to play Charlotte. The casting was very good and really made the play.

            The character’s costumes were very well done in my opinion. The costumes were well designed, in the sense that they fit what animal the actors/actresses were portraying, but not so much that they looked ridiculous or were distracting. The costumes also helped add to each character’s personality. Wilbur’s actor wore overalls (which fits the whole farming/agricultural lifestyle) with a pink shirt, brown fingerless gloves, and brown and pink shoes (which gave the idea of hooves). His outfit was playful and quite innocent looking, which helped played into his character. Charlotte’s character wore an all-black outfit that fit snugly with a back hat. Her outfit was very elegant and spider-like, especially when she was still. The goose fit the description of ‘mother goose’. She looked like the storybook mother with a bonnet, apron, and dress. The other bird wore goggles and a scarf, making him look like an early pilot. Templeton’s clothing fit very well, because it didn’t really fit at all. She had splotchy brown clothing with patches sown in, with big pants that made a wide circle around her, fingerless gloves, and simple, flexible black shoes. The older sheep looked like a typical grandmother, with her two canes, large, quilt-like dress, and white poofy hair. The lamb’s outfit fit her character because she was arrogant, young, and energetic with purple and little pom-poms on her shirt that gave the effect of wool. All the animals had hats, too, that helped cover up a little more of the humanness and give an extra flare to the natures of each animal. The family all wore typical clothing of what you would see farmers wear—overalls and flannels and layered simple dresses. Each character’s costume added to their personality and helped to animate them more.

            What added more to each character was the combination of their costumes and also their mannerisms. Wilbur was kind of all over the place with his fast and jumpy words and actions. He did a lot of rolling around and looking in a lot of directions. Charlotte was very graceful, deliberate, and slow in her movements, much like a dancer. She created an elegance about herself and her work. The geese repeated themselves and had light voices. The lambs both had jittery voices, like the baa-ing sound a sheep makes. The younger lamb bounced and jumped a lot, and her facial expressions added to her arrogance, while the older lamb was slow with canes and wisdom with her age. Templeton’s scrunched up, little movements gave her a more rat-like nuance and aloofness, and the way her laughter sounded also added this effect. Overall I thought the actors, actresses, and designers did an amazing job with helping the characters come to life.

            The set was really nice as a whole. I liked how they had their musician up on stage so you could see him. His music was very nice with the guitar, banjo, and violin being use interchangeable to mix things up and give different scenes a different feel and tone. Charlotte’s web was extremely cool, and it was interesting to see how they included the ladder-like set pieces so the actors/actresses could climb around on them. My favorite part of the play was the effects that Charlotte’s actress was able to pull off. The climbing around the spider web in her constantly-fluid motions was really cool. Then, her use of the aerial silk dancing was amazing and perfect with her spider character. I wondered what kind of effects they would use with her spinning her webs, and I was amazed and very excited when I first saw her use the aerial silks. It was really funny, too, because the first time she glided down the silks, the children in the audience gasped and a lot of them were awe-struck about it. Even as I was walking out, I heard some kids say how they wanted to do that and how they would practice the monkey bars to be able to climb on the web like she did.

            Overall, I liked the play very much. It was entertaining and funny while also having some really cool effects. The cast and their costumes added to the play and helped to prevent the fact that most of the play was done by talking animals from ruining the play or making it ridiculous. The set was nice and allowed the characters to enhance their personalities by being able to use it to the extent they did. The script was funny and enjoyable for both children and adults. Though Charlotte’s death was sad, it was nice to see her children being born healthy and also to see that three of them decided to stay at the barn. The theme of friendship and perseverance present in the play left the audience with a warm feeling and hope for the future.