About
“Jungle Book is a MUST SEE, especially for multi-generational families. Age-appropriate, stunningly designed, and immensely fun." – BroadwayWorld
"Dazzling... The show is so incredibly inventive in its blending of all modes of theatre that adults will be no less delighted by the production than will children." – Stage Door
“JOYOUS! A new version of the familiar story that should delight children and the adults lucky enough to join them.” - Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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THE STORY
Mowgli is a 25-year-old architect living in New York City. When he gets a text from his sister Maya, "Happy birthday wolf boy!", it takes him back to his childhood in the jungles of India. Mowgli pulls out his old journal (his "jungle book"), flips through the pages, and begins to re-live the stories of his youth. As a toddler, Mowgli becomes lost in the jungle when a tiger, Shere Khan, attacks his family. He is rescued, and adopted by two wolves, Akela and Raksha, who raise him in their pack. Mowgli learns "The Law of the Jungle" from a bear, Baloo, and a panther, Bagheera. The trio have a series of adventures while trying to keep Shere Khan from killing Mowgli. Eventually the tiger turns the wolf pack against him, and the young boy is forced out of the jungle, and back into the town. There, he reconnects with his human mother and sister, Messua and Maya. The town hunter, Buldeo, threatens to harm Mowgli and his family; now there's a human bully inside the town and a tiger bully outside of it. Mowgli must use the help of his animal and human families to defeat the threats. In the end, he understands we need to "let in the jungle" – to connect the human world with the natural world in order to keep things in balance.
But he still has to make a choice about his identity: is he wolf, or boy?
A Kidoons and WYRD production in association with The 20k Collective
Written and Directed by Craig Francis and Rick Miller
Adapted from the works of Rudyard Kipling
THE COMPANY (in 2026)
ARUN VARMA*: Mowgli
NAVTEJ SANDHU*: Raksha / Bagheera / Messua / Others
MATT LACAS*: Akela / Baloo / Buldeo / Others
SHAHARAH GAZNABBI*: Shere Khan / Kaa / Maya / Others
CRAIG FRANCIS*: Co-creator / Director / Stage Manager
RICK MILLER*: Co-creator / Director / Production Manager
AIDAN WARE: Company Technical Director / Associate Lighting Designer
PRODUCTION TEAM
JEFF LORD: Executive Producer
ASTRID JANSON: Set/Costume/Props Co-designer
MELANIE McNEILL: Set/Costume/Props Co-designer
IRINA LITVINENKO: Multimedia Designer
REBECCA PICHERACK: Lighting Designer
DEBASHIS SINHA: Sound Designer/Composer
SUBA SANKARAN: Original Song Composer
RUDYARD KIPLING, RICK MILLER, CRAIG FRANCIS: Song Lyrics
ANDREW DOLLAR: Workshop Stage Manager
FRANK MESCHKULEIT: Puppetry Consultant
ERIC WOOLFE: Shadow Puppetry Consultant
SIOBHAN RICHARDSON: Fight Consultant
CELINE ROSENTHAL: Line Producer, Asolo Rep
PAUL JENS ADOLPHSEN: Dramaturgy, Asolo Rep
KRIS KARCHER: Dramaturgy & Casting Apprentice, Asolo Rep
ALLEN MCKINNIS, STEPHEN COLELLA: Dramaturgy, YPT
RICHARD CLARKIN: Directing Consultant
LOGOGRAPH: Graphic Design and Marketing
OFFICIAL SITE: junglebook.ca
SOCIAL: TW @kidoons / IG @kidoons / FB @junglebookshow
Jungle Book was developed with assistance from and originally produced at the Asolo Repertory Theatre, Michael Donald Edwards, Producing Artistic Director, Linda M. DiGabriele, Managing Director.
*Kidoons and WYRD Productions engage, under the terms of the Independent Theatre Agreement, professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Jungle Book is presented under the Reciprocal Agreement Between Actors' Equity Association of the United States and Canadian Actors' Equity Association.
We would also like to thank and acknowledge funding support from the following:
