First-rate Jungle Book bares sharp teeth at MTYP
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/11/2009 (5823 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Don’t expect the Disney version.
This Montreal-based stage adaptation of the classic Rudyard Kipling stories, imported by Manitoba Theatre for Young People, is redder in tooth and claw than your average cuddly children’s play.
The jungle, indeed, is where the wild things are. Instead of being cute and tame, these animals hiss, growl and snarl with occasional menace.
Pitched at ages 4-12, the 60-minute show could engender a few shivers among the younger ones.
They may also have trouble following aspects of the storyline, which has the human-hating tiger Shere Kahn threatening to kill the "man cub" Mowgli, while our wolf-raised hero discovers the law of the jungle and his own place in it.
Say what you will about its fright quotient, it is a definitely ambitious and inventive production.
The Montreal company Geordie Productions premiered it in 2008. With six athletic actors in animal costumes and a lively percussionist working from the side, the show comes with an elaborate set making use of ramps, vines and colourful lighting.
It looks and feels expensive. Manitoba Theatre Centre mainstage shows have got away with less.
Oliver Koomsatra is a lithe and muscular Mowgli who does handstands and cartwheels across the stage. Alain Goulem is an amusing Monkey King and Chip Chuipka a fearsome Shere Khan.
Glenda Braganza, Paula Jean Hixson and Mike Payette do a great job as a chattering trio of monkeys, bringing a touch of Teletubbies-style physical comedy to the proceedings.
As adapted by Tracey Power, the script contains numerous echoes of contemporary concerns, from racism to environmentalism.
Director Dean Patrick Fleming has worked with set designer Amy Keith and lighting designer Ana Cappelluto to imagine a world that is definitely off the beaten track.
Walt Disney might not approve, but Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze definitely would.
morley.walker@freepress.mb.ca
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