THE JUNGLE BOOK Hills Youth Theatre Stirling Community Theatre Until 15 Jan 2012 Review by Jamie Wright Hills Youth Theatre (celebrating their 25th year) brings to life Rudyard Kipling’s classic story of Mowgli, the boy abandoned to be raised by wolves, and who is befriended and taught the ways of the jungle by his animal friends. It is a musical (using a pre-recorded soundtrack rather than a live band/orchestra) but it’s not the 1967 Disney film version reworked for the stage; this adaptation stays more loyal to the original short stories, though with a great deal of added contemporary humour. Director Judy Sampson (who also adapted the script, originally by Mike Carter) focuses on the key aspects of fun and consistent characterisation, and succeeds at this – though there are one or two occasions where the action drags a little and the jokes are taken a bit too far. The cast features Ned Baulderstone is the impatient-but-good-hearted Mowgli; Indigo Radbone and Nathan Seyd as his concerned wolf ‘parents’, surrounded by wolf cubs; Ella Heywood-Smith, who is great as the lovable Baloo, particularly in the song ‘Baloo’s Boogie-Woogie’; Claire Sparrow, who gives Shere Khan the tiger an air of menace; and Esme Fabry, who – as fellow feline Bagheera the panther – is noticeably deep in character whenever she’s on stage. The monkeys, led by Trent Golsby, are loud and energetic – though why they have such a wide range of accents is a bit of a mystery. Briony Bickerton, Calvin Heath, Cordelia McPherson-Smith and Amelia Ramsay are the voice/puppeteers for Kaa the python, and on top of this already huge ensemble we have a flock of vaguely glam-rock kites, a herd of military elephants and the children of the village. The set by Peter Collins and Richard Dall is colourful, with several levels; the makeup – surprisingly, no-one is credited for this in the programme – is excellent. Betty Bird has done wonderful work with the costumes, in terms of quantity and quality, for both the different animal groups and the Indian-style clothing of the villagers. Lighting by Judy Sampson, Jon McKay and Chloe Lupton, adds to the spectacle. There are some sound/microphone issues, though that’s more likely an opening night glitch than a lasting problem. It is a school holiday production aimed at children, and with the mostly non-stop action, easy-to-sing-along-with music and audience participation, this production is all about having a good time. It would be unreasonable to expect the same standards from children as one would from adults, but apart from the occasional missed dance step, some issues with delivery of lines and the tendency to move around too much and adopt unusual postures when speaking, the kids do well at making this an entertaining production.