Review: Lane Cove Theatre Company's THE JUNGLE BOOK Is A Delightful Revisiting Of The Childhood Classic

Friday 18th November 2018, St Aidan's Performance Space, Longueville

Lane Cove Theatre Company brings Rudyard Kipling's THE JUNGLE BOOK to life in a family friendly Community Theatre stage adaptation. Directed by Bedelia Lowrencev, this work, performed by predominantly school aged children, is sweet, comical and reinforces the important role that suburban Community Theatre plays in the greater Arts industry.

Lowrencev and Sarah Edwards have artfully transformed the small community hall into a jungle of lianas which hang through the space and connect the audience to the stage as they continue to work in with the lattice work of greenery that forms the backdrop for the stage. Scene changes are conveyed with paintings on large canvas panels which are flipped to suit, situated at the side of the raised stage. The performance space moves well beyond the rectangle of AstroTurf and raised platforms, reaching right into the front row of the audience. Sound Editor and Operator Cassie Mildwater has layered in a soundscape of forest noises with birds and frogs to greet the audience and set the scene. The choice of musical backing tracks for the songs however does leave the singers exposed and the production could benefit from a musical director that could provide more musical prompts for the singers which often struggled to find the correct notes. Lighting Designer and Operator Jeremy Cardew creates an ambiance with the lighting but for some of the group dance numbers, has left the lighting too dark particularly for the spectacular finishes.

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ostume Designer Rose Edwards has created an impressive wardrobe of animals with Papier-mâché masks, tails and in some cases coats. Utilising a base of black pants and t-shirts, Edwards additions transforms the cast into the various creatures of the jungle, from a pack of wolves, a troop of monkeys, birds and of course, The Devilish tiger Shere Khan (Holly Boswell), her faithful Jackal Tabaqui (Jeremy Segal), the mysterious python Kaa (Daniel Timmins) and Mowgli's (Charlotte Pugh) friends the caring old bear Baloo (Rod Stewart) and sprightly protective panther Bagheera (Madeline Biddle).

Presented with a blend of dramatization, dance and singing, this two act performance is endearing enough to make up for its opening night nerves. Lowrencev has opted to change the genders of some of the characters including making Mowgli a female, allowing Charlotte Pugh to step into the demanding role. Pugh steps up to the challenge admirably for her tender age of 10 years, capturing the young man wolf's cheekiness and sassy attitude with fabulous facial expressions, physicality and overall presence and has a generally strong vocal for an unamplified performance. She is equally matched by Madeleine Biddle as the panther Bagheera who has a beautiful movement and adds a little more maturity and experience to the Mowgli's guardian. Both girls have good clear dialogue and Biddle has a delightfully intriguing 1930's jazz sound to her vocals in Terry Gilkyson's The Bare Necessities. Rounding out the central trio, Rod Stewart plays the bumbling bear Baloo, tasked with educating Mowgli in the ways of the forest. Stewart is the weakest of the core trio but it plays to the role of the aging educator when he appears to forget cues.

As Mowgli's adoptive 'parents', wolves Akela and Raksha, JeRemy Lowrencev and Jocelyn Chalmers present a restraint in their presentation compared to Pugh and Biddle. As two of the adult cast, currently studying Dramatic Arts at university, their performances are more forced and presentation of dialogue less natural and clipped with weaker vocals.

Holly Boswell takes on the role of the villainous tiger Shere Khan with an attitude befitting a great cat. Whilst she presents the role with a presence, albeit restricted by the direction to act like a big cat where her costume would have sufficed in conveying who she was, Boswell also appeared to suffer opening night nerves with a restrained delivery and like many of the other cast, would benefit from stronger music direction. As Shere Khan's sidekick, Jackal Tabaqui, Jeremy Segal captures the comedy of the faithful servant with a sneering snideness as he relays Shere Khan's intentions. Rounding out the other key character of the jungle, hypnotising python Kaa is presented with a gravitas by Daniel Timmins. He captures the snake's mysterious nature, teetering on the edge between friend and foe with facial expressions and puppetry that echo each other perfectly. He has strong clear diction in his dialogue and vocals which adds to the weight and impact of the calculating snake and his interaction with the audience is played with an amazing confidence and playfulness.

As the leaders of the monkeys, Emma Ashley, Alice Austin and Katie Matheson present Luna, Taak and Ban with a playfulness that masks their nefarious intent. They also add the strength of the dance numbers including a tap routine. They present the sneaky monkeys with the same veiled friendship that a gang of mean girls would at school. This concept is matched with the human hunters Nick Loane, Alexi Belchenko and Vivek Sirkari, lead by Hayden Ashley as Buldeo who present the hunters as a tough guy want-to-be's with a physical comedy. As the human women, Messua and Nabila, Josie Segal and Pallavi Wardan present a nurturing and open mindedness as they accept Mowgli as Messua's lost child. The troop of core characters are complemented by the additionAl Smaller roles of Rama the Bull (MAli Sanders), Baby Mowgli (Eve Emeleus), Chil the Kite (Amelie Balestriere) and two scrap fed wolves Snag (Lucy Gee) and Tima (Piper Kup-Ferroth).

With allowances for a community, amateur production performed by school students, for the most part, this production of THE JUNGLE BOOK is an enjoyable night that allows audiences to reconnect with Kipling's classic story of acceptance, listening to your elders, compassion and cunning. Within this performance, there are a few young talents that are worth tracking where they decide to take their performing careers.

THE JUNGLE BOOK

Lane Cove Theatre Company

St Aidan's Performance Space, Longueville

18th November - 3rd December 2016

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