SU Drama Department’s ‘Jungalbook’ exciting and energetic theater

By David Feldman
Contributing writer

The Syracuse University Drama Department has a new Chair, Ralph Zito, and under his leadership and that of Timothy Bond, Syracuse Stage’s Producing Artistic Director, the program’s mission seems to be shifting. Take their program notes for the current production of Jungalbook: They announce for this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book that "the designers, performers, stage managers and technicians whose work you are about to see are participants in a rigorous program of conservatory-style training" – and note the use of the word "conservatory."

The department has been debating for years whether it should continue as a professional-oriented academic/liberal arts theater program or move toward the conservatory approach, which stresses the training of future theater professionals. If Felix Ivanoff ‘s high-intensity adaptation is any indication, the conservatory model is where things are headed. 

Jungalbook as a performance is more a spectacle than what you’d call a conventional theater piece. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as the spectacle here is . . . well . . . pretty spectacular. But its intention is clearly as much to train students in the skills needed for eye-popping physical movement onstage as it is to delight the audience – which it effectively does. And it will be especially appealing to young viewers.  

The story is straight out of Kipling. A human infant is adopted by a pack of jungle wolves at the insistence of Bagheera, the panther (sensually purred and slithered by Farasha Baylock). She was once captured by humans and, having escaped, believes she owes a debt for what she learned from them. She repays the debt by saving the child from becoming a tasty morsel for Sherakhan, the Tiger (growlingly and menacingly played by Matt Smith). As the child Mowgli grows up within the wolf pack, Sherakhan’s appetite for his human flesh grows too, until the not very dramatic moment when the wolf-man decides he can’t play at being a wolf forever and takes on Sherakahn using human tricks – thereby breaking the laws of the jungle as enunciated by the hulking but friendly and wise bear (Jon Schoss), who acts as both narrator for much of the play and as Mowgli’s teacher. Among these laws are: There’s a truce from killing when the drought-stricken jungle creatures come to the shrinking river to drink; and killing is for eating, not for any other purpose. But Sherakahn has already broken that last one by interfering with the wolf-pack’s own rules, so a human-style payback is inevitable.

Along the way, Mowgli grows up and learns that being human is far more complicated than being a wild beast – but one must accept what one is. That climax is more a matter of theme (it’s never easy to adapt fiction to the stage) than dramatic conflict. And this production becomes a tour de force, showcasing the outstanding physical work of these students rather than being a conventional dialogue-centered stage play.

All the action, and there’s lots and lots of it (at times thrilling enough to make you gasp), is played out on an inventive set consisting of steel platforms, netting, posts, etc., designed by Elizabeth Gleason, a junior in the department. The animals swing, hiss, sway, jump around and lurk about, under and over the set so effectively that you often forget they are humans. Much of the credit for this goes to Director Ivanoff, who is interested here in using the body in a manner that is something like choreographed acrobatics. And these young and vigorous performers are terrific at doing just that.  

As inventive as the set is, so are the costumes by Emily Springer, another Drama Department student (as are all the designers). Springer’s knee pads, rags, boots and dresses are not of the Halloween-type animal variety intended to imitate how animals look, but rather how these animals act – which largely contributes to the production’s power.

As Mowgli, Christian Leadly leaps about the stage growling with the wolves and trying (not always convincingly) to figure out where a human fits into this world. Christopher Pesto and Troy Dangerfield will have you believing a human can become a python and elephant, respectively. Chelsea Rolfes is suitably wolf-like as the leader of the pack, although she never quite conveys the menace one might expect the Alpha-wolf to possess. There is also a trio of vultures (Lindsey Van Horn, Brenna Carlin and Anya Johnson) that at first will make you laugh and then pray that you never end up dying of thirst on the banks of a dried out riverbed.

This SU Drama Department production is exciting and energetic theater, showcasing its young performers and demonstrating how much they can do with superbly trained bodies, so "three cheers" for trying something non-standard and for succeeding so well, and kudos for doing so professional a job with something new and different on the Storch Stage.

Another indication that the department is moving toward a more professional orientation: No sappy "Thanks, Mom and Dad for never giving up on me," or "I love ya Muffin, hugs and kisses" program notes. The ones here are straightforward and professional, simply announcing the background (and often the quite impressive credits) of the cast, period. Thanks SU Drama.

DETAILS BOX:
What: Jungalbook, based on The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
Where: Storch Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.
When: Through Nov. 21
Length of Performance: about 1 hour and 15 minutes; no intermission
Tickets: $18 adults, $16 students; $7 rush tickets one hour before curtain 
Call 315-443-3275, or http://vpa.syr.edu/drama
Family guide: Recommended for audiences of all ages