The Jungle Book

A new stage adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories, presented at the National Theatre's Olivier stage in London. The production mixes puppetry, humour and original characters for a family audience.

This production retells Kipling's tales of Mowgli, a boy brought up by wolves in the jungle, in a new adaptation written by Anupama Chandrasekhar and directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Puppetry is credited to Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes, and the staging is built around puppets alongside comic moments and newly created characters.

The story is set in the Sundarbans, a mangrove region of northern India. This version takes up the changing climate and the links between humans and animals, and gives a central place to Ma Bonbibi, the Lady of the Forest, a guardian spirit of the mangroves who is revered by both Hindus and Muslims. The theme of nature and nurture runs through the family story of loyalty and courage.

The production reunites Rubasingham and Chandrasekhar, who previously worked together on The Father and the Assassin, and it is presented as theatre for the whole family. The Olivier stage is adapted for the production, which is described as a family show rather than a comedy night.