Jungle Book Reimagined

Jungle Book Reimagined pushes the boundaries of traditional theatre in so many ways, the double front projections, the recorded voices for the dancers to interpret and of course the choreography allowing them to create believable animal characters.

The original story is still there but has been reinterpreted by Director/Choreographer Akram Khan and focuses on the problem of climate change.

There are other key elements too; the lessons of commonality between species, the binding interdependence between humans, animals and nature, and finally a sense of family and our need to belong.

Kham has broken the divide between dance and spoken drama with his dancers adding character to the recorded voices of the Mowgli and her animals’ friends. His vision is truly mind blowing and an assault on the senses in the best possible way.

Projected rain pours down the front of the stage, birds soar in the air, elephants offer council, the earth is destroyed by a flood, and cartoon characters of the human performers link the dance sequences. It is mesmerizing!

Khan vision is brought to life with the aid of Tariq Jordon’s layered script, Jocelyn Pook’s intense score, Gareth Fry’s striking sound design, Michael Hull’s multi-layered lighting design, Miriam Buether’s arresting visual stage design, Adam Smith’s art & animation design, Nick Hillel’s video design and Naaman Azhari, Natasza Cetner, & Edson R Bazzarin’s rotoscope operation.

The projections on the front and back of the stage give the whole production a 3D feel aided by the sound scape. The rehearsal time for the dancers to match their movement with the projected images and the sound must have been immense and frustrating at times!

Jungle Book Reimagined has two casts, voice and dancers; the voice actors are - Tian-Lan Chaudhry, Joy Elias-Rilwan, Pushkala Gopal, Dana Haqjoo, Nicky Henshall, Su-Man Hsu, Kathryn Hunter, Emmanuel Imani, Divya Kasturi, Jeffery Kissoon, Mavin Khoo, Yasmin Paige, Max Revell, Christopher Simpson, Pui Yung Shum, Holly Vallis, Jan Mikaela Villanueva, Luke Watson, 3rd year students of Rambert School.

My only reservation with this production is the balance of the voices and music at times, resulting in not all the dialogue being heard clearly.

The dancers become animals and react accordingly. I am convinced they must be wearing knee pads under their harem style pants. The dancers also move the set (walls made of boxes) during the production.

They have incredible demands placed upon them. The choreography is precise to match the dialogue and the resting positions of the dancing cast must place considerable strain on their bodies.

The dancing cast are Maya Balam Meyong, Tom Davis-Dunn, Hector Ferrer, Harry Theadora Foster, Filippo Franzese, Bianca Mikahil, Max Revell, Matthew Sandiford, Elpida Skourou, Holly Vallis, Jan Mikaela Villanueva and Lani Yamanaka. Their ensemble sections of dance are wonderful to watch.

There are not enough superlatives for this production. It is original and takes technical theatre to new heights. The Akram Khan company are to be congratulated for producing first class theatre and bringing it to Adelaide.

Jungle Book Reimagined is the latest of their works. They have also mounted Bahok, Chotto Desh, and Akram’s next creation Gigenis.

Jungle Book Reimagined is a triumph of dance meets audio visual in a seamless amalgam of joy and a take home message for us all!

Barry Hill OAM

Photographer: Camilla Greenwell

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