I REMEMBER seeing the film adaptation of Charlotte's Web at primary school and being rather affected by the subject matter.

I think bacon lost its appeal for some time!

Now the tale is coming to the Haymarket stage in Basingstoke, courtesy of Watershed theatre productions, who will weave their magic for all those aged five and over, with a cast of six actors.

The adaptation by Joseph Robinette, from EB White's classic tale, tells the story of Charlotte, the amazing talking spider who uses her extraordinary writing talent to save her friend, the young pig Wilbur.

As Nick Collett, who plays the narrator and the farmer, explained to me: "The kids get very caught up in the story and it's fascinating watching them key into it.

"It's my brilliant idea to fatten the pig up in the story but, of course, as the play progresses, I begin to warm to the pig and then, by the end of it, I'm very fond of it!"

Nick began his career in Basingstoke, believe it or not, performing in Cider With Rosie in 1983, David Copperfield and Alice in Wonderland.

"My first professional job was at the Haymarket," he recalls. "I was only supposed to be there for a while but I ended up being there for years, and then coming back several times. I reckon I've done about 28 shows there - it's a record!

"No-one gets the chance to play such a variety of roles in the beginning these days, so it was a great start, teaching you that you need to learn to stretch your range."

So how did he end up doing children's theatre?

"I first met Chris Wallace, who runs Watershed, when I did The Borrowers, which we took on tour for 26 weeks and repeated the run the following year. He then asked me if I would be interested in doing this tour of Charlotte's Web and I couldn't think of any reason why not.

"People have obviously come in and out of the company, but it is a very close family of actors. It's much more to do with people, how you get on with everyone, and it's lovely to have that personal involvement.

"There are some people who want to do children's theatre and nothing more, but before this I was playing Richard III. But children's theatre is a part of my work that I enjoy very much, and one of the most important things is very good quality productions for the young - they're the next audience after all."

As a complete arachnophobe, I have to ask how scary the spider, Charlotte (pictured above), is in the show.

"Actually, there's a wonderful engagement between her and the kids - quite a lot of tears get shed! She has a fabulous, black and red glittery costume, which fits in with the book, wherein she says 'I'm quite pretty'."

Does he feel this sort of production can compete against the amount of technological entertainment fighting for people's attention in the modern age?

"I'm quite heartened at the moment as there are a lot of people baying on about how DVD, cinema and television are killing theatre, but I maintain that there's absolutely nothing like a live experience.

"Theatres in the West End are definitely thriving and that's having a ripple effect - there's such exciting stuff going on from Colchester to Plymouth and Basingstoke.

"I predict that people will continue to enjoy watching TV, but those who make the trip to the theatre will be those who keep coming back."

Charlotte's Web runs at the Haymarket from Thursday, April 22, until Saturday, April 24. Tickets, priced £12 for adults and £7.50 for children, are available from the box office on 01256 465566.