Jungle Book swings into Bolton Octagon

The music is original, but as much as I would loved to have heard the Bear Necessities and I Wanna be Like You, as performed in the Disney film, the music in this version was catchy and very danceable too.

With the show being performed in the round in a relatively small theatre, it felt very intimate. The performers, brilliantly led by Kiara Nicole Pillai, an Indian-Chinese Actor from Singapore, as Mowgli, interacted with the audience and the children in the audience loved it.

There was a section of the show where Mowgli catapults “fruit” into the audience which got everyone involved. The energy of the cast was tremendous, their enthusiasm was infectious. Charlie Ryan provided loads of laughs as Baloo, Ashley D Gayle was electrifying as Bagheera and Harveen Mann-Neary switched to a variety of roles with ease and was always convincing as Kaa and Mowgli’s mothers, both as a wolf and a human.

Rachel Marwood, who played Ginger Spice in the UK Tour of the Take That musical Greatest Days, played Shere Khan, the tiger, with just the right amount of menace. Not only is this a great alternative to the pantomimes that dominate theatre at this time of the year, it’s also a great introduction to the writing of Rudyard Kipling. One young girl, sat just in front of me, seemed enthused to pick up a book as soon as she got home. I hope she does.

When I interviewed Kiara Nicole-Pillai for my radio show, Break-a-Leg, she was clearly bursting with enthusiasm to play Mowgli; it showed on stage. The young actor told me that her favourite show is &Juliet, which is touring the UK right now and running on Broadway. She said she’d love to play the part of Juliet in the jukebox musical, which is one of my personal favourites.

After a performance like I saw in Jungle Book, I don’t doubt she might fulfil that ambition one day. She’s certainly a rising star and if you’re looking for a show to enjoy over the festive period, that isn’t a pantomime, they you won’t go wrong with Jungle Book.