Charlotte's Web
By E.B. White, Adapted by Joseph Robinette
By E.B. White, Adapted by Joseph Robinette
In this adaptation, the play tells the story of a livestock pig called Wilbur and details his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered, Charlotte writes messages in her web praising him, such as "Some Pig", "Terrific", "Radiant", and "Humble", to persuade the farmers to spare his life.
As part of completing my CAS Project for the International Baccuelurate Diploma Programme, my theatre teacher presented me with the opportunity of getting to direct my school's Middle School Production (11-14 year olds).
Charlotte's Web was put on in ACS Egham International's School's PAC Theatre on December 8th, 2021. For this production, I was left in-charge of running auditions, casting, scheduling/running rehearsals and meetings, all design elements and then calling the show. I was able to do this with some help from two supervising teachers, however the bulk of the production rested upon me.
I did all this whilst completing all the other requirements for my diploma which required a lot of balance and discipline in order to ensure all aspects of my course and the production were on track. Although I did have teacher supervisors throughout, they were there mostly as an adult figure in case a major emergency occurred. I had spent the summer of 2021 creating audition material, potential designs, and a timeline of events/deadlines. At times, working on this show was very full-on as I had a foot in each door creatively, and due to the nature of the theatre department at my school, there was a lack of students who wanted to do any backstage work. Therefore, it was up to me to fulfill those areas which were lacking. That being said, there were some students who showed keen-interest in experimenting with design, so I worked with them to create something realistic and achievable to make.
I had a lot of fun working on this production, and it really made me appreciate all the work that goes into creating theatre. Although theatre has always been something I have been passionate about, getting to work on this project in such an intense way really shaped my outlook on what I wanted to pursue as a long-term career.