THEATER REVIEW
“Charlotte’s Web”
Grade: A
11 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through July 31. $10-$20. Serenbe Playhouse. The Animal Farm behind the Inn at Serenbe, 10950 Hutchesons Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. 770-463-1110, serenbeplayhouse.com.
Bottom line: Delightful take on a classic.
I grew up on a Georgia farm in close proximity to spiders and squealing piglets.
But until an elementary school teacher read “Charlotte’s Web” to my class, I was lost to the hidden beauty all around me — and how words might transform an ordinary barnyard into a place of grace, imagination and friendship.
Decades later, I can still recall how the sage, magisterial spider Charlotte announces herself to the scared little pig Wilbur in E.B. White’s classic tale of affection across the species.
“Salutations!”
Funny how that fancy, $2 word danced from the shadow of memory into the light of a splendid spring morning for me the other day. Here I was again, fully enthralled.
Only this time, I didn’t have to labor to conjure the barn full of animals that occupy this study of rivalry and redemption among the cobwebs, hay bales and slop buckets.
Thanks to Serenbe Playhouse’s darling production of Joseph Robinette’s adaptation of the children’s novel, the cows, sheep, horses and goats were all within easy petting distance, providing scenery and unintentional sound bites for director Ryan Oliveti’s wondrous telling.
This Chattahoochee Hills theater has never missed an opportunity to make scenery out of nature. It occupied a flower meadow with "Hair," made a splash with an "Ugly Duckling" set in a pond, and had Curly make an "Oklahoma!" entrance for the ages, singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" astride a horse.
Got an Animal Village on the property? Just add actors, music and movement. And behold: “Charlotte’s Web.”
My goodness, what a magnificent web Oliveti and company weave.
When Fern (Nicole Carpenter) decides to allow her adorable Wilbur (Andy Terwilliger) to lodge with her Uncle Homer (Mister Fitzgerald), he is immersed in a world of mystery and intrigue. As everyone hints, his destiny may lie in the frying pan.
That is, until clever word-weaver Charlotte (Bretteney Beverly) takes matters into her spidery legs.
In a lovely conceit introduced by the Narrator (Erik Poger Abrahamsen), the audience is instructed to hum a little tune that will become Charlotte’s signature. As the audience coos, she spins her gossamer oracles: “Some pig,” “radiant,” “humble.”
Beverly is lovely as the voluptuous, soft-spoken creepy-crawly. Abrahamsen imbues the Narrator with a mixture of down-home authority and hucksterish charm. Carpenter makes for a memorable Fern and has a beautiful singing voice. And Terwilliger, with his blackened nose-snout, potbelly and pink ears, is a superb Wilbur, by turns petrified and thankful.
Except for Carpenter and Terwilliger, the cast is required to portray multiple roles. They do so quite persuasively, too.
As the villainous rat Templeton, Hao Feng nearly runs off with the cheese, and the show.
Speaking in the voice of a scheming comic-book caricature, his Templeton is a wise-cracking, sarcastic, self-serving smart aleck. Feng is tall and lithe — not exactly rat material. Yet he musters an expressive vocabulary of comedic tics and foibles to nail the part of the slithering charlatan. (Watch your popcorn, kiddos.)
In its seven seasons, Serenbe Playhouse has produced Broadway musicals, Shakespeare and edgy contemporary fare, among other story forms. But its family shows have become a favorite Saturday-morning tradition. In a blissful few hours, you can visit the community farmers market, catch a play, have lunch and still have the afternoon in front of you.
“Charlotte’s Web” is some play. And for many of us, a welcome trip down memory lane.
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