ATP'S THE JUNGLE BOOK BLENDS SEVERAL STYLES
Puppetry and vivid physical acting help bring animal characters to life
It may be flawed, but there is still much to be admired and enjoyed in Alberta Theatre Projects' holiday show The Jungle Book.
Written and directed by Rohit Chokhani, this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic collection of short stories marries the story of Mowgli, a feral boy raised by wolves, with Indian customs and culture.
The first act tells the story of how Mowgli was rescued by a wolf pack after the tiger Shere Khan killed a group of villagers including Mowgli's father. Mowgli finds allies not only in his wolf family, particularly pack leader Akela, but also in the wise bear Baloo and the panther Bagheera. Still, there is always danger lurking in the jungle because Sher Khan has vowed to one day kill Mowgli.
Humour, spectacle, movement and puppets dominate this act so that the stage is constantly awash in colour and movement.
In what appears to be a hodgepodge of styles, the puppets, designed and supervised by associate director Andrew G. Cooper, range from tiny butterflies, bees and birds to the large Shere
Khan tiger puppet (played by Duval Lang) and Kaa the python puppet (Veenesh Dubois). The wolves and monkeys, as well as Baloo the bear (Marshall Vielle) and Bagheera the panther (Javelin Laurence), do not use any puppetry or animal costumes, giving us two style approaches for the jungle creatures.
Vielle, Laurence and Kristen Padayas as Akela the wolf leader are most effective in simultaneously conveying animal and human characteristics. There are great moments when Bagheera is sunning himself on a log or when Baloo is being pestered by insects because Laurence and Vielle convey their characters' animal natures so effortlessly.
The same holds true for Risha Nanda's approach to Mowgli. She beautifully captures the feral nature of this young child.
The jungle of the first act benefits greatly from Brian Dudkiewicz's set and props designs, Jessie Paynter's lighting, Brendan Briceland's video designs and Deitra Kalyn's costumes.
The second act moves to the village where Mowgli's mother, aunts and cousins live and opens with a festival for the elephant god Ganesha. It is as much a culture shock for the audience as it is for Mowgli which is probably what Chokhani intended. Even Rudyard Kipling (Duval Lang) makes an appearance and we see how he got the inspiration for his Mowgli stories though he is a rather pompous Englishman.
The Indian cultural dancing and costumes set the scene for Mowgli's arrival, and Padayas as the self-appointed truth-telling villager Priya is hilarious. A nice touch is having Veenesh Dubois, who played Mowgli's wolf mother play his human mother, but it is Nanda who carries this second act as Mowgli tries to become human and eventually takes his revenge on Shere Khan. Unfortunately, the death of Shere Khan is underwhelming as is the introduction of the red flower or fire.
The second act feels rushed and unfocused. With a running time of almost 165 minutes with an intermission, The Jungle
Book is too long for young children which is unfortunate because there is so much in the production to delight them.
This play is an ambitious project which needed more script work, rewrites and edits but it works as well as it does because of the dedication of the artists working backstage and those onstage.
The Jungle Book runs in the Martha Cohen Theatre until Dec. 31.
* This review uses the original Kipling spellings of the characters.