By Karen Hall

Editor

Everyone knows "Charlotte's Web," the beloved children's book by E.B. White. It has been made into both animated and live-action movies, and now it is on the stage of the Dixie Theatre, this weekend and next.

How can people portray animals on stage? That question is perfectly answered in this production. With a combination of characterization and costume, Amanda Adams and Nick Phillips are perfectly believable as goose and gander, and the little children who play their goslings are adorable. Becky Hill does an outstanding job as the sheep who tries to tell Wilbur what happens to fat pigs when the cold weather comes, and Cassidy Primm is superb as Charlotte, the spider who weaves words into her web that end up saving Wilbur's life. Matthew Karban is perfect as the selfish rat Templeton who is persuaded to help Wilbur's cause.

The star of the show, of course, is Wilbur, played by Noah Swanson. In pink overalls, with a curly tail and a cap with pig ears, he's a sympathetic and delightful pig who wins over friends both human and animal.

The play, like the book, has messages about teamwork, love, self-sacrifice, and generosity, but mostly it's just a delightful story.

The cast is large and well-rehearsed. and guest director Nancy Nave has made them as close to professional as eight weeks' work can accomplish.

There are both adults and children in the cast. Remarkably, both of the farm couples, John and Martha Arable and Homer and Edith Zuckerman, are played by men and women (Austin Montgomery, Jessica Newton, Todd Campbell and Denisa Jones) who are making their stage debut. You'd never know it from their performance.

Nave staged the play at the Houston County Community Theater, so she was able to borrow the main set and some of the costumes from there. Other costumes, like Charlotte's, were made locally.

Go see this play. It's suitable for children, but delightful for adults as well, and just the escape you need from the ordinary world of violence and sadness.