Chichester Festival Youth Theatre: REVIEW The Jungle Book - why this is an exceedingly good production of Mr Kipling's classic

Like Rudyard Kipling’s baking namesake, everything he did was exceedingly good.

So a new adaptation of The Jungle Book performed by the internationally lauded Chichester Festival Youth Theatre has been much anticipated.

Chichester Festival Theatre has always avoided the pitfalls of pantomime at this time of year preferring instead to showcase the talents and potential of its youngest stars in professional, ground-breaking theatre.

As a result, the Youth Theatre has not only won deserved global acclaim but many of its young actors have gone on to greatness in both theatre and the related arts in the 20 years since the first festive production.

For many of those years they have been supported by the dazzling set designs of Simon Higlett and the costumes of Ryan Dawson Laight. This year is no exception.

The young cast does not disappoint in their sheer energy and enthusiasm for the 2023 production.

Representing all the wild animals of the jungle as well as some domesticated ones at well, they bound across the stage which blurs Indian forest with an almost eerie children’s playground.

As ever, key roles are rotated between performances but on the press night a huge round of applause for Sarada Pillai (Mowgli), Edward Bromell (Bagheera), Courtesy Phiri (Baloo), Flo Clarke (Sammy), Freddie Lyons (Shere Khan) and Elijah Pena (Biscuit).

Pillai and Lyons were both exceptional. Watch out for all of them – they are tomorrow’s stars. And today’s.

For older members of the audience it is not easy to forget the iconic music of the Disney animated classic and to want a production and characterisation that mirrors that a little more – even though that has never been the approach of the Youth Theatre. But the story-telling is powerful and this new adaptation is designed to make it relevant for today’s generation.

The talent of these young actors and their colleagues in the production team shines through, reminding us all how fortunate we are to have a youth theatre of such extraordinary quality. They are awesome.