"The Jungle Book" at Children's Theatre Company

Confession: I've never read The Jungle Book (the collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling in 1894) or seen the 1967 Disney movie (that I can remember). So I was on the fence about seeing Children's Theatre Company's new adaptation, until I saw the cast list (more on them later). They're about a month into their two and a half month run, and I'm so glad I decided to see the show. This coming of age story that just happens to take place in a jungle is a wonderful tale of friendship, family, community, interdependence with nature, and finally having the courage to strike out on your own. With a sparse adaptation featuring just five actors playing all of the characters (most of them animals), whimsical musical accompaniment and sound effects, and a set that's like the best playground imaginable, The Jungle Book is sheer delight from start to finish.

Even if you, like me, have never read the book or seen the movie, you probably know the story. A young human child is raised by wolves in the jungle, who call him Mowgli. As he gets older, the bear Baloo and the panther Bagheera take him under their wings, er... paws. Mowgli learns to commune with the animals of the jungle, but soon finds out that not all of them are his friends. He has the usual growing pains of any human child, but eventually comes to appreciate his animal family and all they've done for him (there's hope, parents!). Because of their love and guidance, he's able to go off on his own into the human world and find his place in the world.

The delights of this adaptation by Greg Banks, who also directs are many, and include:

• Eric Sharp joyously inhabits the character of Mowgli from the playful non-verbal child, to the rebellious kid wanting to play with his friends, to the young man who is ready to set out on his own, but grateful to his animal family.
• The other four actors play three to four animal characters each, and completely physically transform into each one. Highlights include H. Adam Harris' lovable Baloo that any child would want as a friend, Casey Hoekstra's deliciously menacing tiger, Autumn Ness' stern but maternal prowling panther, Nastacia Nicole's smooth and seductive snake, and all of them as the playful and mischievous monkeys.
• Unlike the Disney movie, this is not a musical, but there is music and sound. Victor Zupanc plays multiple instruments including percussion, accordion, and various whistles and noisemakers, which provides a lovely soundtrack to the story.
• Joseph Stanley's set is a playground any kid (or adult) would love to play on, with multiple levels, stairs, ladders, swings, and platforms high off the ground. It provides endless possibilities for exits, entrances, and interactions, and the cast is all over it.
• The costumes (by Alison Siple) are subtly representative of the animals the actors are portraying. There are no full fuzzy stuffed animal type of costumes. Rather the actors are dressed in fairly normal people clothes with accessories that hint at the animal - a gray furry hood for the wolves, a brown fuzzy coat for the bear, a colorful mane and bungee cord tail for the monkeys, and beautiful long silk scarf for the snake. Simple but creative and effective, and most importantly, easy to change as these actors get their workout transforming from one animal to the next.
• The message of "we're of the same blood" is so beautiful and moving, and perhaps even more important to remember today than it was 100 years ago. We're all part of the jungle that is earth, and The Jungle Book reminds us of that.

This Jungle Book is so fun and playful, with a beautiful message about a family that's not related by blood (or even of the same species) and a connection with nature. Whether you're a child or an adult, a fan of the story or unfamiliar with it, it's impossible not to love it. (Continuing through December 20 in CTC's ground level Cargill Stage).

Mowgli and the monkeys (H. Adam Harris, Casey Hoekstra,
Eric Sharp, Autumn Ness, Nastacia Nicole, photo by Dan Norman)

This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

Fringe Festival 2015: "Reinventing the Wolf"

Day: 6

Show: 27

Title: Reinventing the Wolf

Category: Comedy

By: Burntail Arts

Created by: Sofia Lindgren Galloway and Anna Hopps

Location: Ritz Theater Studio

Summary: A fun Friday night with a group of college friends turns serious as they're able to open up about sexual assault through the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

Highlights: These five women (Becca Hart, Hannah Neville, Kiara Jackson, Nastacia Nicole Foster, Sarah Parker) are all really natural actors and feel like friends, and there's a light-hearted party atmosphere for the first half of the show as they talk and joke and drink, preparing to go to a party. They're also all great singers as they sing meaningful and well-constructed montages of pop songs. Things turn a little serious about halfway through when one of the girls, Sorrel, asks the other girls to write a story as if they're Little Red Riding Hood to help with an essay she's writing. They're all beautifully written and filled with hidden meaning. Finally Sorrel is able to tell her friends why she doesn't want to go to the party, because she was sexually assaulted at the last party. This allows others to share their stories, listen, and support each other. Reinventing the Wolf doesn't get too deep into the issue of campus sexual assault, but it does allow for a conversation to begin and an acknowledges that this is part of college women's experience and needs to be addressed.

"Nacirema: Stories of Color" at nimbus theatre

"I don't see race. People tell me I'm white and I believe them because (insert hilarious quip here)." This is one of my favorite Colbert Report bits, because it shows just how ridiculous it is to claim to be color-blind. We're not color-blind and we shouldn't be, we should see and celebrate all our beautiful colors, despite the difficulties that may come along with it. nimbus theatre's new original work Nacirema (American spelled backwards) explores this and other ideas about race in America. Presented as a series of vignettes written by nimbus' Artistic Directors Josh Cragun and Liz Neerland, along with the seven-person ensemble, it's a modern, thoughtful, innovative, and entertaining take on the issue.

This seven-person cast (consisting of Ernest Briggs, Alsa Bruno, Suzie Cheng, Nastacia Nicole Foster, Dana Lee Thompson, Jesse Villarreal, and Simone Williams), most of whom were unfamiliar to me, all do a wonderful job bringing their unique perspectives and talent to the piece. On a mostly bare stage with a screen to display images or video, with large panels occasionally covering it to provide the backdrop (scenic and video design by Josh Cragun), a dozen or two short scenes played out. Some are funny, some poignant, some a bit shocking, all raw and true. My favorites include:

• The show begins with the cast visiting Nacirema Travel Agency, illustrating the mostly horrible ways people ended up in this country.
• A spoof of local news shows us how skewed it can be, with hilariously sing-songy voices by Ernest and Simone, and stories featuring homicide, sports, and weather.
• A QVC sale of the "token friend of color" is funny and dead on and might make you squirm a little.
• A scene on a bus with few words spoken shows us what's really going on inside people's heads as characters hold up signs that display their thoughts. It's quite telling, moving, and disturbing.
• In some of the most beautiful scenes, each of the seven ensemble members describes her or himself in terms of food, which I assume they had at least a part in writing. These monologues are all lovely, diverse, and poetic, like spoken word performances.
• What starts out as a fun dance party with Alsa calling movements and the cast performing them turns into a sobering police encounter.
• Alsa's painting show (think Bob Ross painting a crack house) is really funny, playful, and surprisingly poignant.
• Dana and Nastacia embrace and celebrate beautiful natural hair!
• The cast stands at the front of the stage and takes turns saying some of the stupid and insensitive things people say.
• A lovely song by Dana and the cast ends the show, with beautifully diverse images of famous Americans displayed on the screen.

I'm a little late to this party - nimbus theatre's Nacirema closes this Sunday. But if you have time this weekend, I recommend checking it out for some entertaining, thought-provoking, challenging, creative theater.

the cast of Nacirema