Review: Charlotte's Web | Casa Manana | Casa Manana Theatre - Fort Worth

Fort Worth — It's a little funny to listen to the language in Charlotte's Web these days, especially when the characters are talking about the words written on "the web." Web posts were a major factor in E.B. White's classic tale of true friendship long before the Internet came along.

The well-known story of Charlotte (a spider) and her BFF, Wilbur (a pig), has been a staple in children's theater for a long time. But just like its timeless theme, the story still works, and it's getting a sweet, sincere staging by Casa Mañana Children's Theatre. Joe Sturgeon, Casa's director of theatre for youth, directs the adaptation by Joseph Robinette with a small cast playing multiple roles, including human, mammal and arachnid.

The challenge in staging Charlotte's Web is always what to do about those non-human roles. Actors in full-on animal costumes? Actors with costumes that suggest animals? Puppets?  Sturgeon and his production team strike a perfect balance with hand puppets manipulated by actors whose costumes complement their nonhuman characters. Costume designer Tammy Spencer dresses her actors to work with the puppets designed by Winston Ragle. For instance, Wilbur is played by the adorable Lindsay Gee, who is dressed in pink overalls and shirt and pink baseball cap. It works beautifully and subtly as puppets and actors melt together with their movements to create lovable, believable creatures.

Here's the story, in case you need a refresher: A runt pig is among the litter born on the Arable farm. Mr. Arable plans to do away with it until his headstrong daughter Fern takes on responsibility for him and names him Wilbur. When Wilbur starts eating too much, he moves to the nearby Zuckerman farm, where one of the barnyard's other residents lets it slip that Wilbur just might be destined to be bacon, pork chops and ham. But Wilbur has a secret weapon—Charlotte, a spider that spins words into her web in the corner of the barn that make the Zuckermans believe that they are the proud owners of no ordinary porker.

Bob Lavallee's simple, rustic set provides a realistic backdrop for the Zuckerman barn that transforms with a few added touches to Wilbur's digs at the fair. Sunrises, sunsets and fireworks at the fair are beautifully accomplished through Samuel Rushen's lighting design.

Kudos also are in order for Ryan Mansfield's sound design. It would be hard to transport ourselves to the farm without the ambiance of barnyard animals and birds.

Lauren Magee, who played Fern for Saturday afternoon's performance, was all blonde braids and sunshine, whether she was "ridding the world of injustice" or discovering that boys aren't so yucky after all. Her devotion to Wilbur is touching and sweet.

As the terrific, radiant and humble pig, Wilbur, Gee embodies the excitable little pig and brings E.B. White's character to life without turning him into a cartoon. Wilbur runs the emotional gamut from a care-free spring pig with no worries to fainting with fear over the prospect of becoming breakfast. Gee handles it all with a realism that makes it easy to forget she's an actor manipulating a puppet.

Strong adult performances come from Casa Mañana veteran, David Coffee, as Mr. Zuckerman, and Christopher Deaton as Templeton the rat. Coffee acts and sounds like he was born to play a simple country farmer. As Templeton, Deaton is hilarious and never breaks character any time his rat puppet is on stage, scurrying about and all over the set with every entrance and exit.

The only flaw in the production is that the same can't be said for Charlotte, the spider puppet brought to life by Kia Dawn Fulton. Unlike Templeton, Charlotte more than once starts to exit as a spider would, gliding along a railing and up a post, only to be dropped to Fulton's side as she casually walks away. The rest of the cast goes to such lengths to make their animals realistic that Fulton's casual attitude about keeping Charlotte "in character" breaks the magic on stage. On a more positive note, Sturgeon highlights Fulton's beautiful singing voice. 

The show's brisk pace and plenty of animal action kept the kids' attention during Saturday's matinee. The messages about friendship are easy to grasp, and the script comes with built-in vocabulary lessons. 

Some pig. Some play. Some sweet story.