WonderQuest's JUNGLE BOOK Opens This Week!

WonderQuest goes WILD with an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic story THE JUNGLE BOOK, opening this week

Out of deepest, darkest Indian comes the Gainesville Theatre Alliance's next WonderQuest adventure with The Jungle Book. The jungle comes alive in Brenau University's Pearce Auditorium, 500 Washington Street SE, Gainesville 30501, with family performances Sept. 29 through Oct. 7.

Patrons will meet the Man-cub Mowgli as he runs, jumps, and climbs through his jungle home. Along way he meets some funny, faithful friends such as Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther, and together they begin an adventure to discover which is best: the Law of Man or the Law of the Jungle? As he meets more creatures of the jungle, Mowgli must use all his might to save his animal friends and himself from the wrath of Shere Khan, the most feared of all.

WonderQuest is the theatre for young audiences division of the Gainesville Theatre Alliance, the nationally acclaimed collaboration between University of North Georgia, Brenau University, theatre Professionals and the northeast Georgia community.

The Jungle Book is perhaps the most well-known of author Rudyard Kipling's works, due in part to both the animated and recent live-action film both by Disney. But Kipling wrote all sorts of stories for children: his Just-So Stories were full of tales about how animals got to be the way they are, and Kipling loved reading them aloud to his niece in particular.

It is this wonderful poetry and language that Gay H. Hammond decided to bring to life in an adaptation that would be rooted more deeply in Kipling's original literature.

"We have included a great deal of Rudyard Kipling's original language and poetry, such as the Hunting Songs of the Seonee Wolf Pack," Hammond explained. "We are always looking for the quirks which make it delightful and individual for the audience."

Some patrons may remember, WonderQuest previously staged Hammond's adaptation 11 years ago. This production, however, is doing things a little differently.

"I have been inspired by IndIan Temple dancers and indigenous design for costumes, which was missing from the 2005 production. Plus, we have for this production female Baloo and Bagheera."

The vast and colorful world of the play became quite the opportunity for the production's designer as well. The story is certainly called The JUNGLE Book for a reason. All the designers asked themselves how best to bring the man-cub's Jungle home to the stage.

Scenic designer Emma Hoffbauer explains, "We wanted the jungle to seem huge, and I wanted some elements of the Indian forest where the original story takes place... so, I researched different types of jungles and ruins. I even took a field trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens!" Hoffbauer has worked with director Hammond in the past, scenic designing last season's Discovery Series production The Raven and the Nightingale.

Another key aspect of the play's explosion of colorful wildlife comes from costume designers Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay. While the designers had their work laid out for them to draw out larger-than-life shapes and colors, capturing the animal inhabitants was a worthwhile challenge.

"We looked at a lot of videos of how animals move and what features of the specific animals that popped out to us. The nature of these movements is reflected in the sleekness or billowy structure of the costume silhouettes," they explained.

Fantastical, creative movement is always a staple of WonderQuest's cast of characters for Director Hammond.

"Portraying animal characters is the best training for an emerging actor! The analytical process involves creating bold physical choices which express both the animal nature and the sentient, motivated character."

For The Jungle Book, this means everything from menacing tigers to 15 foot long pythons.

Beyond the animals' movement, family ties among the different animals was important to the Curley-Clays: "We wanted to tie everyone together and reflect the theme of an underling universal value system... the wolf tattoos and Mowgli's for example put them in the same family but there are also aspects of color that group friends together."

Family and friendship becomes an important theme along Mowgli's journey. as The Man-cub becomes a man, he confronts his enemies with the support of his friends. The Jungle Book seems to keep coming back due to the unique, exciting ways it teaches young audiences that by being true to yourself, life is a jungle out there!

Family performances of the play run September 29 & 30 and October 6 & 7 at 7:30pm and October 1 at 2:30pm. Patrons can arrive in the evening any time after 6:30pm to check-in, with theatre doors opening at 7:10pm. There are free Meet-the-Actors receptions after the Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 performances, and a pre-show "Marvelous Monkey Jungle Party" for young cubs ages 6-12 at 6:30pm prior to the performances on Oct. 6 and 7 (a separate $5 ticket).

The rest of the GTA season of theatre can be perused at the GTA website: www.gainesvilleTHEATREalliance.org. Call the Box Office with questions at 678.717.3624, Monday - Friday from 10am to 4pm.