The Jungle Book Reimagined At Birmingham Hippodrome Review
Reviewed by Lindsay Burton
The Birmingham Hippodrome website sets the scene as a family torn apart as they escape their homeland destroyed by the impact of climate change. Arriving alone in a deserted and destitute city, and with wild animals claiming the streets as their own, the child Mowgli soon discovers unlikely friends in this strange new “jungle”.
In Akram Khan’s brand new dance-theatre production based on the original story of Rudyard Kipling’s much-loved family classic, Akram and his team recreate the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a climate refugee. The dancing is without a doubt something to behold and each and every person on that stage are absolutely gifted in their talent and skill.
With the script by Tariq Jordan, dramaturgy by Sharon Clark and original score by Jocelyn Pook.m, sound design by Gareth Fry, lighting by Michael Hulls, visual stage design by Miriam Buether and video design and animation by YeastCulture, the effort that has gone into this production is phenomenal and explains the genius in screen technology and choreography.
Featuring an original score, ten international dancers and state-of-the-art animation and visuals, Jungle Book reimagined is a compelling and important piece of storytelling about our eternal need to belong somewhere and have contact and relationships with others, and focussing the importance of connecting with and respecting our plant and nature at its heart. It’s a story that we are all responsible for as the impact humans have on this plant is often catastrophic leaving very little room for anything that isn’t human or human made.
When the show started, the stage was incredibly dark and confusing during the first 15-20 minutes and having grown up with the original version and knowing each character like an old friend, I had no problem navigating through the screens and darkness to follow the underlining story. But my daughter was confused for most of the first half and struggled to get to grips with which character was Bagheera and which was Baloo due to all the dancers being dressed in the same colours and not being able to see their faces clearly due to the darkness. Ka was as creepy as the original story, but the story was difficult to follow for a child who has a fantastic imagination which makes me think that the 10+ rating could maybe even be a bit higher? But with continuous (and silent) explanations from me, we continued to make our way through scene after scene of incredible strong and moving dances. It was a new experience for me compared to my normal theatre choices and may not be to everyone’s liking but it portrayed incredibly strong messages which need to be told and more importantly, need to be heard. Truly a work of work, this show one to add on to your list of you enjoy interpretations and adaptations.
Rating: I give the show 4/5 due to the amazingly talented dancers.
More information about the show can be found here.
Recommended age is 10+ but may even be older due to familiarity of the original required to help guide you through the adaptation.