The Jungle Book

Emporium Do it again! A thoroughly joyous entertainment for kids that I, as an adult (well almost) really enjoyed. Mike Carter proves once again that he knows how to craft a show for young people and what a joy to see this classic Kipling story uncluttered by the famous Disney songs. Those songs, good as they are, did become the core of the film, leaving the moral tale lost in the land of animation. At Emporium we get the Kipling delivered by a strong cast including an extremely well rehearsed group of kids who take on the roles of wolf cubs and monkeys with great charm. Mowgli is played with appropriate innocence and naivety by Kamari Romeo, but from time to time his vocals get lost. Rich Nair makes a splendid Shere Khan and Michael Adams is wonderful as the gentle voice of Akela. Amy Sutton is seductively slippery as aKa and Suzanne Proctor’s Bagheera is sexily sinister, although her make-up was somewhat lacking. Gordon Winter makes an hilarious Chief Monkey with his insane white Rastafarian performance and terrifying darting eyes, a superb performance. Doug Devaney once again treats us to a wonderful characterization as Baloo the bear, big in every sense he really gets to the soft heart of the character rather than Disney’s simple buffoonery.
Director James Weisz gives us another great show, a simply lovely set filled with atmosphere, clever costuming and puppets, and a great balance of story to fun. If I have one criticism, and this will seem peevish given the excellence that this company deliver on such small budgets and limited resources, it is that the lighting , whilst moody and atmospheric, lacks focus on the actors, often leaving them in the dark and losing the impact of facial expression and sadly diction. I hope that as this excellent theatre grows there will be enough money in the pot to remedy this.
Three cheers for another excellent show that will no doubt inspire kids to be the theatre goers of the future.
The Jungle Book
Emporium
12 July
Andrew Kay
5 stars