Charlotte's Web is the charming story of Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider. The play opens as Fern, a farmer's daughter, saves the runt of a litter from her father's axe. Finding the "perfect name for a perfect pig", Fern names him Wilbur. Fern loves Wilbur more than anything, but Wilbur, the "spring pig", grows up, and when "he ain't no baby pig any longer, he has to be sold", although luckily only to Homer Zuckerman, her father's uncle. Since Homer only lives down the road, Fern can visit Wilbur as often as she likes, and visit him she does. In his new pig-pen, Wilbur makes many exciting new friends, including such colourful characters as Templeton the rat (delightfully acted, complete with cockney accent 'an all), the wise and slightly gloomy old sheep, a good-tempered mother goose, who repeats words in a charmingly goose-like fashion, and of course, last but absolutely by no means least, Charlotte the spider. Charlotte the spider is a very special character. Charlotte is clever- "salutations" she says as she greets Wilbur. More important, Charlotte is Wilbur's truest and best friend. As the story develops, it becomes a race against time to save Wilbur from Homer. As Templeton says, "it won't be long until he'll cut that pig- into bacon and ham!" Charlotte's valiant efforts to save Wilbur involve spinning the words "some pig" into her web, saying as she does so:

"The message is spun,
I've come to the end,
The job that I've done
Is all for my friend."

It is a story about the importance of friendship and the willingness to put the needs of others' ahead of one's own, only for the sake of friendship. In a word, it is about altruism and sacrifice. Far from being a heavy-handed morality play however, Charlotte's Web is one of the most entertaining plays that an adult can take a child to see. Guaranteed to cause laughs a plenty, the wittily scripted and amusingly acted characters will have your child smiling with delight, if not rolling about in the aisles. Wilbur's comical attempt to escape from Homer's pig-pen involves a foray into the audience and much scampering along rows and over chairs. This had the large audience of young children (under 12s) in uproar. The music that accompanies much of the play and the brief dance with which the play ends add much to the atmosphere, joviality and seriousness by turn (with an emphasis on joviality- of course!). Indeed, this play seems to get the balance right between laughs and a desire to encourage thoughtfulness. The play's sad ending does nothing to detract from the overall fun. Recommended.

Oliver Morris 27/5/04