The Liberty theater department recently held their first production of the year, “Charlotte’s Web.” The show ran from Nov. 17-19 in the Liberty Performing Arts Center. This production included a mix of new freshman and seniors leaving their mark on the LHS theater program.

Sophomore Marissa Varga, cast as the role of Third Fairgoer, decided to audition for the play because it was a chance to get involved in theater – something she has always loved.

“I am really interested in theater, since I was little, and this is one of the first chances I’ve gotten to be onstage,” Varga said.

Senior Morgan Feinstein, who played Charlotte, spoke about how the role of Charlotte is a bit different from roles she’s played in the past.

“This role is a lot more motherly and wise. Normally I’m on the funny side, and this is a very serious character, she does a lot for the story,” Feinstein stated. “She’s a lot more responsible.”

Feinstein loves the process of getting into character, especially when acting in scenes with a partner.

“I love to get into character with other people. It really helps me to feed off my partner’s energy,” Feinstein said.

There are roles of both human characters and animal characters in this show, and the process of preparing for each of the two is entirely different.

Feinstein described some of these differences in her role as Charlotte, explaining, “Obviously a spider is different from a human, you know, eight legs! So, I studied a bit of the movement. I did watch the movie because it is a comfort movie but you kind of want to think about how you want to move and how they do; just the differences and similarities between a human and insect.”

Notably, a handful of Liberty staff members’ children had roles in the play.

Feinstein spoke on the joy of acting with children, adding that “acting with children brings a whole new level to a story because children are so cute, they bring extra life and light to a performance, and it’s just really cute.”

Junior Madeline Claravall, who played the role of Goose, discussed how this show is different from others she has participated in.

She states, “This show is really different from ‘Mamma Mia,’ which is a really huge, spectacular show. It’s one of the biggest that has ever happened, and ‘Charlotte’s Web’ just seemed a lot smaller. We made it into a really huge, incredible production which I knew we would, and I was pretty unsure at first.”

Claravall also added onto the process of how she got into her role to play the character.

“I do a little bit of an accent for this character, otherwise I just try to think about the character’s life. If they are a human I’d try to think the way they would think,” she explained.

Claravall expanded upon the difference between playing an animal character and playing a human character, stating, “Everything is different because they are completely different characters. Being a human character is much more natural but being an animal takes harder work, which I appreciate.”

‘Charlotte’s Web’ Cast List