![Henry Willy [pictured left] taking the field with his teammates in a 10-11 loss vs. Saas.](https://ballardtalisman.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_2431.jpg)
E.B. White, author of beloved children’s novel “Charlotte’s Web,” once said, “All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.” Quoted by language arts teacher and director Miller Shor at the beginning of the fall play, this line encapsulates exactly what “Charlotte’s Web” was – a love letter to the world.
The plot follows Wilbur (Isabella Ward de Campos Gonçalves), the runt of his litter of pigs who is slated for slaughter by his owner John Arable (Sam Ruzumna). John’s daughter, Fern (Ella Wagar), attached to Wilbur, persuades her father to sell the pig to her Uncle Homer Zuckerman (Ayden Friend) to live on his farm.
On the farm, Wilbur meets a cast of animals, some friendlier than others, including the spider Charlotte (Sigrid Van Natta). When Wilbur is fattened up to be killed, Charlotte promises to save his life, which she does by writing words like some pig and terrific in her web to prove his specialness to the farmers.
What truly shone in the actors’ performances was their vibrant physical acting, both as the human and animal characters. Whether it was Wilbur leaping through the loose straw in the barnyard, John tussling with his overactive son Avery (Calvin Davidson) or Charlotte’s spider-like slinking around the loft, each movement was deliberate, dynamic and excellently choreographed.
The costumes used were innovative, creatively working with ordinary clothing to emulate animal features. Most notably were pairing an all-white outfit with orange socks and shoes in place of webbed feet for Gander (Will Dandekar) and Goose (Indigo Freeman-Burnett) and styling Charlotte with a lacy black dress and hat, reminiscent of a spider’s exoskeleton.
One of the biggest highlights of the show was the sleazy barn rat with a heart of gold, Templeton (Ryan de Forest). Each entrance he made stole the show, running a comb through his slicked-back “Grease”-esque hair and scampering from place to place with his tail dragging behind him. Every line was delivered with gusto, charm and, most importantly, rapscallion energy.
The sets were simplistic and at times messy but worked well enough for the settings of both the barn and the county fair. Charlotte wrote her words in her spider web using complicated knots of pre-tied rope and fishing line, which was a clever idea but ended up feeling clunky and stilted.
The originally composed music was an impressive feat. The Chorus (Corinne Iacobucci, Natalie McManus and Tilly Pratt) spoke directly to the audience like the Greek chorus in Sophocles’ “Antigone” and added context to the scenes, transitioning between them with enchantingly beautiful melodies. Although Charlotte’s web building could slow the plot, farmhand Lurvy’s (Adrien Nolte) haunting cello refrains kept it moving.
More than anything, “Charlotte’s Web” showed that every creature, big and small, can have an impact on the world. It was well-acted, hilarious, had innovative costumes and highlighted some promising actors to hopefully be seen in future BHS productions. It was a love letter to the past, present and future. As Joni Mitchell said in “Circle Game,” the song played at the beginning of the show and sung by the Chorus at the end, “We can’t return, we can only look / Behind from where we came.”
