Mowgli was still a toddler when he was lost in the jungle – his parentsfleeing the tiger, Shere Khan. There, Mowgli was brought up bywolves, and educated by the bear Baloo and the panther Bagheera.He was happy while growing up and learning the ways of the jungle –and his name was soon known amongst all the animals. But Mowgli’sgrowing fame provoked resentment and envy, and his life was soonthreatened from all sides…First published in the late 1890s, Rudyard Kipling’s two Jungle Books have enchanted generations of children and adults. Often describedas an allegory for the society and politics of the time, The JungleBook has now been adapted by critically-acclaimed South Africanplaywright, Craig Higginson. The play asks: Who is your family?Those who look the same as you or those who love and nurtureyou? Here, the tales become a powerful examination of an emergingdemocracy, and the forces that threaten it.Based on a version by the celebrated director Tim Supple, thisadaptation was first staged at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre in2008. This powerful and magical version of a much-loved classic isas resonant now as it was when it first appeared – both within SouthAfrica and beyond its borders.
