There is a startling piece of transformative stagecraft towards the start of Sarah Punshon’s production of the Rudyard Kipling favourite.
The animals have discovered the infant Mowgli, a “little frog” adrift in a wicker basket on a floral silk river. One of the jollier songs of Ziad Jabero’s score strikes up, a catchy number called Jungle Jive. As it progresses, the boy emerges, first as a toddler puppet on one side of the in-the-round space, then, on the opposite side, as a slightly older puppet and then bigger again, until by the end of the song, Kiara Nicole Pillai slides down a ramp, as the full-sized man’s cub.
After the initial welcome from Akeela (Harveen Mann-Neary), leader of the wolf pack, Mowgli takes over as our engaging entry point to the jungle and its hazards.
With a combination of petulance and inquisitiveness, Pillai’s Mowgli tests the limits of cooperation and friendship, bonding with Baloo the bear (audience favourite Charlie Ryan), keeping a respectful distance from Bagheera the panther (an awe-inspiring Ashley D Gayle), and being overrun by the mercurial monkeys. Sprightly and physically free, Pillai’s performance keeps a young audience captivated.
Staged on Katie Scott’s set, Andrew Pollard’s adaptation does well to counteract the jingoism associated with Kipling. The costumes have a light-touch Indian influence that flourishes in the flowing silk trail and golden headdress of Kaa the python. Later, Mann-Neary plays Mowgli’s estranged mother entirely in Punjabi.
Whether Mowgli is the king of the beasts is a moot point. He has skills that eclipse those of the other animals – notably an ease around fire – but only through this rite-of-passage adventure can he learn how to balance curiosity and caution. He must understand the extent of his human power, especially when dealing with the prowling threat of Rachel Marwood’s tiger, Shere Khan. In shades and pointy-fingered gloves, Marwood growls with the only patrician accent on stage – and, more troublingly, on the walkways behind us.
After the fun of catapulting guavas into the audience and the thrill of the no-contact fights directed by Kaitlin Howard, Mowgli’s departure from the jungle feels like a genuine loss, rounding off a gripping and vigorous show.
• At Octagon, Bolton, until 4 January
