Adapted by Joseph Robinette. Based on the book by E.B. White.
Product Code: C58000
Full-length Play
Drama
Cast size: 5 to 7m., 7 to 9w., flexible ensemble group.
Awards: The Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award
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The Children's Literature Association named this "the best American children's book of the past two hundred years," and Joseph Robinette, working with the advice of E.B. White, has created a play that captures this work in a thrilling and utterly practical theatrical presentation. The costumes and unit set may be simple or as colorful and elaborate as you wish; it's the story and relationships that make the show. All the enchanting characters are here: Wilbur, the irresistible young pig who desperately wants to avoid the butcher; Fern, a girl who understands what animals say to each other; Templeton, the gluttonous rat who can occasionally be talked into a good deed; the Zuckerman family; the Arables; and, most of all, the extraordinary spider, Charlotte, who proves to be “a true friend and a good writer.” Determined to save Wilbur, Charlotte begins her campaign with the "miracle" of her web in which she writes, "Some pig." It's the beginning of a victorious campaign which ultimately ends with the now-safe Wilbur doing what is most important to Charlotte. This is a beautiful, knowing play about friendship that will give your actors a great opportunity and your audience an evening of enchantment.
The script gives a fine blueprint for a successful staging of this very popular story. It was the best attended show in my college's history.
This is a great play to cast in a youth program. The story is moving in a youthful style that doesn't dumb down for adults. Grandparents brought grandchildren to introduce them to such a wonderful story.
This was our school's first mutiple-grade-level play in many years. Charlotte's Web was an excellent vehicle to show the advantages of different ages. The classic story was enjoyed by young and old alike.
This show was a hit with both the cast and the audience. We had a cast of 37 children ranging in age from 3 to 13 and every one of them got a speaking part and their moment in the spotlight! A great message for young audiences, too!
Our most successful production in many years. The community was delighted with a family-appropriate show. We used children for the baby spiders.
This version of the classic E. B. White story is a magnificent choice for young and more experienced actors alike. The genre of the play allows the actors to explore, and create these classic characters, due largely to this great adaptation by Joseph Robinette. A story for all agesÑour audiences enjoyed not only the humorous aspects of the play but the more emotional moments as well. Charlotte's Web offers a great platform for story theatre narrative work, physicality on stage, and a developed plot that enables the actors to create characters with dimension.
A remarkable, touching story, revealing through inspired webs and the charming characters, themes of friendship on earth, affection and protection, adventure and miracle, life and death, trust and treachery, pleasure and pain, and the passing of time and innocence forgotten.
Had standing room for each night. We should have run it for six nights. I found it an ideal play for summer, and for young actors. I liked the idea of a chorus, having produced Our Town and The Fantasticks. I would recommend this play for any school production.
I loved this show! Charlotte's Web was easy to stage and was a real treat for those in the cast and also in the audience. A great show for kids!
Charlotte's Web is an ideal children's show. Staged with only a barnyard scene, the play moves easily to the county fair. The children loved it and the cast created wonderful silly characters that delighted all.
One of the best stage adaptations I have ever read. The production charmed audiences, children and adults alike.
Charlotte's Web, the straight play, has been a delight to produce! It is true to its original novel, with all of the timeless characters and scenes included. It's Some Play!
Great show for middle school kids -- has challenging roles along with great secondary characters. Easy for the kids to follow story line.
It was well scripted -- stayed very close to the book -- and was well received by audiences. It sold out every show.
This was a highly popular and successful production for our school. The adaptation is very faithful to the original book that so many love. There is also a lot of opportunity for creativity. The cast can also be expanded to include as many as you want/need! It's very family friendly and our students and our audiences loved it!
Simple staging was an asset. Very true to original story. The chorus is an ingenious device for bringing in the poetic lyricism of E. B. White. Excellent production notes in script.
This production went very well. It gave us ample options for casting and technical assignments. The pacing proved to be excellent, and my students found this tons of fun.
Fabulous, flexible enough to make casting easy, story flows nicely. We included our younger kids by adding goslings, and farm kids in the crowd scenes. Set design was easy, turned out beautiful. We've had a blast putting it together; we had a cast of 30!
Fantastic for young audiences! Easy to incorporate modern/non-traditional elements with classic story.
One of THE most successful shows we have ever done.
This production was produced with and by 40 children who filled roles on and back stage. We broke attendance records of past shows and received more compliments than we could stand (almost)!
Fantastic.
This was a great production! We cast mostly teens and children, with a few adults mixed in. What a success! It was the most profitable production we have ever done, and this is a 50-year-old theatre troupe!
Charlotte's Web was radiant! This children's classic delighted audience members young and old. Besides having a beautifully flowing story, it was a load of fun.
This adaptation is true to the plot and heart of E.B. White's novel. Excellent options in the script for actors, design team and director to explore.
This was a great show for our school. The students loved the story and getting to play animals. The audiences could really connect with the story they knew from childhood.
This title is the PERFECT script for a children's theater. The story is superb, the writing and thru line are easy to direct and learn, making for a wonderful end product.
This play was a "crowd pleaser" for our organization. The flexible script allowed us to to engage many of our young performers. I highly recommend this production.
If you're producing this play with young actors, be aware that there is a lot of down time for most of your actors, and no down time for Wilbur. The animals at the farm are offstage for most of act 2, and the ensemble are on stage for just a few scenes throughout the play. Since there's so much down time between scenes, it was sometimes difficult for actors to remember their cues. If you have very young actors, make sure there's a stage manager or adult backstage to help them with cues.
Using lighting effects (we used a gelled gobo rotator) and background music can make the writing in the web moments seem even more magical.
We used spider puppets for the "members" - it was a hit with audiences!
We put a chase scene through the the audience when Uncle Homer and Lurvy try to capture Wilbur. Fun, fun.
The use of the traveler curtain, as suggested in the production notes, was very effective.
Get costumes done early! We had problems with our spider costumes!
Use a simple set. I kept the chorus in full view of audience all the time dressed in Pierrot costume so they were apart from the cast. Animals dressed as humans with animal masks.
We built a large barn set and did the fair scenes downstage with only a stall and some hay bales. In the barn, we built a loft for Charlotte that allowed us to create a large yarn web.
We had Charlotte enter the stage lowered, as a spider descends. The audience loved this move.
Location | City | State | Opens | Closes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Peotone High School | Peotone | IL | 02/21/2025 | 02/23/2025 |
Barron Spotlighters | Barron | WI | 02/14/2025 | 02/23/2025 |
Copley-Fairlawn Middle School | Copley | OH | 02/26/2025 | 03/01/2025 |
Actors PLAYground Theater Company | Surprise | AZ | 02/21/2025 | 03/02/2025 |
Solon Center for the Arts | Solon | OH | 03/06/2025 | 03/06/2025 |
Optimum Community Center | Bullhead City | AZ | 03/07/2025 | 03/08/2025 |
Indian River Charter High School | Vero Beach | FL | 03/06/2025 | 03/08/2025 |
Carthage R9 Auditorium | Carthage | MO | 03/06/2025 | 03/08/2025 |
Hamel Auditorium | Erdenheim | PA | 03/06/2025 | 03/08/2025 |
ACTA Theater | Trussville | AL | 02/28/2025 | 03/09/2025 |
03/03/2025 | 03/14/2025 | |||
Westlake Christian Academy | Grayslake | IL | 03/13/2025 | 03/15/2025 |
Otterville School Gymnasium | Otterville | MO | 03/14/2025 | 03/15/2025 |
Mizel Arts And Culture Center/Elaine Wolf Theatre | Denver | CO | 02/20/2025 | 03/16/2025 |
St. Andrews University | Laurinburg | NC | 03/13/2025 | 03/22/2025 |
Punxsutawney Theatre Arts Guild performing at Presbyterian Church of Punxsutawney | Punxsutawney | PA | 03/21/2025 | 03/22/2025 |
Western Reserve Playhouse | Richfield | OH | 03/21/2025 | 03/23/2025 |
Rush Creek Bible Church | Byron Center | MI | 03/28/2025 | 03/28/2025 |
Moreau Center for the Arts - Little Theatre | South Bend | IN | 03/28/2025 | 03/30/2025 |
ACTA Theatre, INC | Trussville | AL | 03/27/2025 | 03/30/2025 |
Eastern Oregon Regional Theatre | Baker City | OR | 03/21/2025 | 03/30/2025 |
Starr's Mill High School | Fayetteville | GA | 04/03/2025 | 04/04/2025 |
Trinity Preparatory School | Winter Park | FL | 04/02/2025 | 04/05/2025 |
Edna Boykin Cultural Center | Wilson | NC | 04/02/2025 | 04/06/2025 |
Sandwich Opera House | Sandwich | IL | 04/04/2025 | 04/06/2025 |
Camden County College | Blackwood | NJ | 04/07/2025 | 04/11/2025 |
Goshen Theater, Inc | Goshen | IN | 04/12/2025 | 04/12/2025 |
Bordentown Regional High School | Bordentown | NJ | 04/12/2025 | 04/12/2025 |
Northfield Evangelical Free Church | Northfield | MN | 04/11/2025 | 04/12/2025 |
The Avalon Theatre | Marysville | OH | 04/11/2025 | 04/12/2025 |
Sprague Community Theater | Bandon | OR | 04/04/2025 | 04/13/2025 |
Tecumseh Jr-sr High School | Lynnville | IN | 04/10/2025 | 04/13/2025 |
Myers Dinner Theatre | Hillsboro | IN | 04/04/2025 | 04/19/2025 |
Cloverleaf High School | Lodi | OH | 04/24/2025 | 04/26/2025 |
Trinity Christian School | Pittsburgh | PA | 04/24/2025 | 04/26/2025 |
El Diamante Theatre | Visalia | CA | 04/11/2025 | 04/27/2025 |
O. Henry Middle School - Austin ISD | Austin | TX | 05/01/2025 | 05/02/2025 |
Cornerstone Christian Academy | Bloomington | IL | 05/02/2025 | 05/03/2025 |
Souls harbor church | London | KY | 05/02/2025 | 05/03/2025 |
Gateway Center For The Arts | DeBary | FL | 04/25/2025 | 05/04/2025 |
Desert Christian High School | Lancaster | CA | 05/08/2025 | 05/09/2025 |
The Arts Center of Cannon County | Woodbury | TN | 04/30/2025 | 05/10/2025 |
Gas City Performing Arts Center | Gas City | IN | 05/09/2025 | 05/10/2025 |
The Harvey School | Katonah | NY | 05/15/2025 | 05/15/2025 |
Wilson Middle School | Natick | MA | 05/16/2025 | 05/18/2025 |
Hope Community Church | West Salem | WI | 05/30/2025 | 05/31/2025 |
Greenhouse Theatre Center | Chicago | IL | 05/10/2025 | 06/03/2025 |
Carnegie Players | Cleburne | TX | 06/06/2025 | 06/15/2025 |
Independence High School Performing Arts Center | Independence | KS | 06/13/2025 | 06/15/2025 |
Wheaton Park District Community Center | Wheaton | IL | 06/20/2025 | 06/21/2025 |
07/07/2024 | 07/07/2025 | |||
High Prairie Arts and Science Complex | Bismarck | ND | 06/26/2025 | 07/10/2025 |
The Fleming Island Theater Incorporated | Fleming Island | FL | 07/11/2025 | 07/20/2025 |
The Elizabeth Seton Center | Pittsburgh | PA | 07/18/2025 | 07/27/2025 |
La Grange Independent School District Performing Arts Center | La Grange | TX | 07/25/2025 | 07/27/2025 |
Chillicothe Civic Theatre | Chillicothe | OH | 09/11/2025 | 09/14/2025 |
Columbus Middle School | Columbus | WI | 09/19/2025 | 09/28/2025 |
Midland Community Theatre | Midland | TX | 10/03/2025 | 10/18/2025 |
Children's Theatre of Charlotte | Charlotte | NC | 09/19/2025 | 10/19/2025 |
07/01/2024 | 12/31/2025 |
File Description | File Format | |
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Performance Poster | Download |
Grace Sayers, Theatre Centre, Inc., DeLand, FL