Sun 27 Jun 2021 06.00 EDT
Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera â Kipling may have created them but they were disseminated by Disney. Nowadays, Waltâs 1967 animation is more widely known than Rudyardâs stories, written in India during the British Raj. To create a stage adaptation without referencing the film might risk disappointing younger members of an audience. To return to the original, its worldview so other to our own, might risk offending the adults.
Glyn Maxwellâs witty script avoids the first snare by playing on the audienceâs knowledge of the cartoon to draw them into the action. A chorus of young voices eagerly offers prompts when Howard Chadwickâs bumbling Baloo wonders aloud: what might satisfy the basic needs, or essentials, or, even,