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“We are now living in unprecedented and uncertain times, not only for our species but for all species on this planet. And the root cause of this conundrum is because we have forgotten our connection to our home, our planet. We all inhabit it, we all take from it, and we all build on it, but we have forgotten to return our respect for it.”
– Akram Khan
Akram Khan’s Jungle Book reimagined is a work based on the much-loved story by Rudyard Kipling. With a new sense of urgency, Akram has reinterpreted this known story from another perspective, through the lens of today’s children – those who will inherit our world and become our future storytellers.
Embedded in the roots of Jungle Book is the deep threat that mankind poses towards nature. Akram and his team have reimagined the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a refugee caught in a world devastated by the impact of climate change. They tell the story of a child who will help us to listen again, not to our voices but to the voices of the natural world that we, the modern world, try to silence. Jungle Book reimagined speaks to all generations as a step to remind, to relearn and to reimagine a new world together.
A stellar creative team worked on the reimagining, with a script written by Tariq Jordan, dramaturgy by Sharon Clark, to an original score by Jocelyn Pook. Sound design comes from Gareth Fry, lighting by Michael Hulls, visual stage design by Miriam Buether, video design and animation by YeastCulture, the visual technology turns the stage into a magical world that dives into the myths of today.
Jungle Book reimagined is performed by ten dancers: Maya Balam Meyong, Bea Bidault, Ferghas Clavey, Hector Ferrer, Harry Theadora Foster, Filippo Franzese, Bianca Mikahil, Jasper Narvaez, Max Revell, Matthew Sandiford, Elpida Skourou, Jan Mikaela Villanueva, Lani Yamanaka.