When the Jacksonville High School drama department performs “The Jungle Book” on Dec. 5th and 6th, it plans to transport the audience to the jungles of India to tell the tale.Elegant Indian-themed costumes will set the mood, staged against a backdrop of rich green foliage filled with vines and tropical plants.
“They are Indian-inspired,” said Marc Vital, who serves as head director for the production as well as the costume designer. “I decided to use a lot of different colors to symbolize different species and a lot of shiny stuff. All the animals will be wearing claws on their hands to give them a fierce look and contrast with their soft and shiny fabrics.”
The production begins at a prep school in England where Rudyard Kipling is trying to finish a story for a competition, but the bullying of his classmates and the disappearance of his tale make this difficult. The cast then takes us into Kipling’s imagination as those bullies turn into the animals that populate a faraway jungle.
Devin Carter plays Young Mowgli, who has to learn the ways of the jungle.
“He goes into the jungle and he’s just a little boy and he’s really energetic,” said Carter, describing how the young Mowgli has to stay with the wolf pack for protection from Shere Khan. “Basically he doesn’t know much about what’s going on.”
Torsten Dryden plays both Kipling and an older Mowgli. In such a role, he has to play off two sides of a character – the reserved schoolboy that Kipling is and the wild jungle child that Mowgli has become.
“Mowgli is this rambunctious, wild jungle kid who doesn’t really know that much,” said Dryden, who gets to switch accents during the production as he switches characters.
As a child, Mowgli is taken in by a wolf family – Akela, his mate and their two cubs. It is Mother Wolf’s job to nurture the small human, a job taken on by Morgan Patterson.
“She is what the name is – she’s very motherly, but she’s also very attentive to what Akela, the leader, has to say,” said Patterson, whose favorite part of the play is when the wolves adopt Mowgli, essentially making him one of her adopted children. “She’s extremely protective over her children.”
Akela, played by Spencer Stephens, has to be the family and pack’s protector, a job that requires him to adopt a gruffer demeanor.
“He is basically the bravest wolf in the jungle, the big dog, so to speak,” said Stephens. “He’s just a really tough character.”
Bagheera, played by Karissa Woodley, is the caretaker of the jungle. One of the character’s jobs is teaching Mowgli how to take care of himself. But the character isn’t just about rules.
“My goal is to teach Mowgli, the human cub, how to take care of himself, so that he doesn’t get hurt,” said Woodley, adding that the character gets to play as well. “It’s kind of like older mother, basically, but big sister at the same time.”
Baloo, played by Jake Wilson, is another of Mowgli’s jungle teachers. It’s a character Wilson has had fun getting to know.
“He’s very fun, he’s proud of himself. He likes to rhyme. He talks to himself,” said Wilson. “He has to teach him [Mowgli] what to eat and what not to eat, what could happen if he’s not alert.
Of course, into any play an antagonist must come, and Shere Khan is “The Jungle Book’s” villain. Played by Josh Morrison, Shere Khan is constantly striving to rid the jungle of Mowgli. Since such absolute hatred is usually not in Morrison’s personality, he has had to draw on the things he hates most and bring that feeling to his character.
“I have to just think about war, because I really don’t like war and I just focus all my hatred of war into this character,” said Morrison.
Shere Khan is helped in his task by Tabaqui, a jackal played by Savannah Jones.
“Tabaqui is almost like an evil henchman, I guess,” said Jones. “Really conniving.”
Thrown into this mix are the characters of Hathi the elephant, played by Nikki Archie; Dari, a human girl played by Tyler Brady and Kaa, played by Samantha Kelly.
Kaa is a snake who doesn’t hate the young man in the jungle, but is not opposed to seeing him gone either. Written as a male character, Kelly plays the snake with a flirty feminine flair. Like a snake, her movements always have to remain fluid and Vital’s costume design plays to that effect.
“I’m really looking forward to wearing the costume. I always look forward to Marc’s costumes; they are just great and this one, I’ve tried it on once and I like it,” said Kelly.
The cast and crew is rounded out by a variety of other animals – monkeys, wolves and other humans - as well as a group of directors who ensure the stage is properly set and every effect works as it should from the costumes, makeup and hair to the bananas that fall from the ceiling.
