“Jasmine Swan’s set and costume designs are strikingly colourful and imaginative, a perfect visual expression of the production’s aesthetic.”
“A towering knotted tree fills the upstage area with a neon sign with the message, “You belong here, this is your place.” The theme of an outsider trying to find their place in society is strongly reinforced throughout. Hanging colourful cloths and shawls adorn the stage and a handcart is centre-stage with lit blocks depicting the city towers, all creating a fantastical, immersive world. There is so much to enjoy in this family friendly production including the peanut disco party with the mischievous monkeys living it up to the full and the youngsters joining in with glee.
Jasmine Swan’s wonderful colourful set and impressive costume designs are a delight. The Jungle Book is filled with fun, whimsical adventures and is brimming with energy from a delightfully multitalented cast of actor-musicians.”
“A gnarled tree towers above a jungle clearing adorned with the scrawled neon message “You belong here, this is your place”. Its branches open wide like an embrace above a clearing.
It’s an unexpected opening for a retelling of Kipling’s much-loved tale of the child reared by wolves and taught the ways of the jungle by his reimagined, powerful, usually predatory beasts. Baloo the Bear and Bagheera the Panther, are striking suited and booted hybrids of powerful jungle beasts and confident Victorian/Edwardian womanhood. Rowena Lennon’s Baloo sports rather more than the bare necessities, a brown fur-trimmed bustle coat over bloomers; and Philippa Hogg’s magnificent black velvet close-fitting bustle over matching bloomers gleams like the panther’s coat. ”
The Jungle Book (Watermill Theatre)
Adapted, Directed and Choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves
Poetry and Lyrics by Sanah Ahsan
Music Composed by Dom Coyote
Set and Costume Design by Jasmine Swan
Lighting Design by Andrew Exeter
Sound Design by Yvonne Gilbert
Assistant Direction by Annie Southall
Dramaturgy by Priya Patel Appleby
Photographer: Pamela Raith