If you feel as the real world has been a little too tough on you lately and you want to leave this realm to go to a different one for a couple of hours at least, then the Jungle Book is exactly what you need. Watching the world unravel in the middle of the jungle through the innocent eyes of a little child is an adventure that can calm even your most stressful moments in life.
The Original Book
Just like other classics that are making their way back into big-budget theatre plays, The Jungle Book is based on a classic from 1894 and was written by Rudyard Kipling, an English author. The story tells some tales about the jungle with loveable characters that are the animals surrounding the main character: Mowgli. The protagonist was raised by wolves and pursues adventures non-stop meeting friends and enemies alike in the Indian jungle.
Since the book first came out, it has been adapted to many formats and has also inspired countless revamps including the amazing dark twist of Neil Gaiman in The Graveyard Book. The BBC featured artists the size of John Mayer, Jonathan Hyde and Freddie Jones in an audio version of the book and also DC Comics and Marvel have their own crossover version with their biggest characters. Also, there is an animated film from 1967 and another from 2016 by Disney.
The Play
Just like in Dolly Parton´s Nine to Five, adapting such a classic was taken very seriously by the company responsible for staging the story.
The authors of the book that people will see on stage are Ely Grimaldi and Igor De Chaille, who was also responsible for the staged version of Disney´s classic Aladdin. The music was composed by Raphael Sanchez and the choreography was in the hands, feet, arms and legs of Julia Ledl, a Moliére Award nominee. She was also responsible for the choreography of The Addams Family, Working and Jane Eyre just in 2018. The costumes to bring the Jungle to reality are the responsibility of Corinne Rossi.
The Cast
The young singer, actor and dancer Tom Almodar will put his gracious smile to play the innocence of Mowgli and his bear friend Baloo is played by Sébastien Duchange, Baheera by Terja Diava, Antoine Lelandais plays Kaa and le Roi des Singes while Cédric Revollon will interpret Shere Khan. With this mixed cast of experienced actors and new faces, the energy surrounding the play is much like the one you get in more amateur venues, where there is a sense of danger, a ludic approach to playing a character without so much pressure. It is interesting to see how the adventures of Mowgli can become alive more than a century from its creation and still amuse a crowd for an entire night.
If you were among the lucky ones who got a ticket
Feel free to drop us a comment and tell us how it went, we would love to hear it from you!
