Review: stunning show as Chichester Festival Youth Theatre once again soar

It’s been a fabulous run of Chichester Festival Youth Theatre Christmas shows on the main-house stage across two decades now – and this year’s Jungle Book is a very worthy addition to a deeply-impressive list.

Where this new production scores highest is when the stage is packed – moments when you can appreciate the detail in each and every single performance. When there’s scarcely room to move on stage, still absolutely everyone is in character, moving exactly as their character demands, completely in the moment.

Matt Hassall is the director and clearly he’s enabled everyone to develop the clearest sense of who and what they are; and when all are on stage, the picture is just stunning – the perfect reflection of the togetherness which turns out to be the big lesson in the story.

It’s a very brave decision to retell a story which is above all known for its mega-famous songs but to do so without those songs. But Ruth Chan – for all there are certainly some weaker songs here – shows that you really don’t need to be The King of The Swingers etc to make this tale swing. You sense that the youth theatre has probably never faced quite such a challenging score – but that double-underlines the scale of their achievement tonight. And with the song Get Ready For The Jungle book-ending the piece, it starts and ends powerfully – huge energy, great characterisation and lovely choreography.

Our Mowgli tonight (the principal roles alternate) was Sarada Pillai, and it’s an outstanding performance she gives as the human child alone in the jungle and adopted – with varying degrees of willingness – by the animals in the hope that she will one day rid them of the evil Shere Khan, very nicely played tonight with a genuine sense of menace by Freddie Lyons.

But as she grows, Mowgli – and Sarada brings this out so well – senses increasingly that she doesn’t belong, and again this is where the show is at its strongest. There is a remarkable moment very early on when Mowgli is shown real compassion – a spine-tingling moment which brings everything powerfully into our here and now. How we treat outsiders, newcomers, refugees is surely the way that history will judge and probably damn us…

Sarada gives us plenty of vulnerability as Mowgli – and indeed plenty of frustration. But the beauty of the performance is in the spirit she invests it with, and it is Mowgli who marshals the troops for the act of solidarity which eventually delivers them from danger. Again, it’s a powerful moment.

This evening’s Bagheera was Edward Bromell and this evening’s Baloo was Courtesy Phiri, and again the performances are great, combining as an appealing double act. But really it’s the collective effect which matters here – even if you do spend quite a lot of time wondering which animals are which. Probably some of the costumes could have been clearer. But the effect, when all come together, gives us – as it always does – the youth theatre at their very best: talented, confident young people expressing themselves so supremely well and yet also with such naturalness.