The Jungle Book

Based on the text by Rudyard Kipling, translated by Andrzej Polkowski.

They say of animals
That they’re duller than we are
That they have no feelings and
That they don’t know what they want

But an animal sheds its coat
While its nature remains the same
Man, however, constantly changes
Everything that can be changed

Searching, testing who he wants to be
And who he doesn’t want to be at all
An animal knows from the moment it lives
And also that…

At the bottom of every human heart there is a home
In that home live two inhabitants of the jungle
Two hungry wolves
One is cowardly, selfish, and evil
The other is brave, vigilant and tender, good
Which one do you feed?

/Song of All Animals/

The starting point for creating the performance based on Rudyard Kipling’s book was the concepts of attachment and belonging. What do they actually mean? What is a family, and what is a pack? The creators of The Jungle Book ask themselves extremely universal questions that also resonate with contemporary reality: how is a human community formed, and how is an animal one, their structures and laws? Are they distant, alien to each other? Does humanity have greater value than animality?

From the day of his birth, Mowgli has been grappling with a baggage of experiences, a duality of nature. Perhaps the most important battle will not be the one he wins against Shere Khan, but the one he will have to fight with himself…?

Premiere: December 2, 2023

Creators

Adaptation, direction and stage movement: Anna Rozmianiec
Set design, puppets and costumes: Olga Ryl-Krystianowska
Song lyrics: Aga Jun
Music: Robert Łuczak

Cast

Łukasz Batko
Krzysztof Ciesielski
Małgorzata Krawczenko
Piotr Osak
Jagoda Zimała
Piotr Pasek
Anna Sztuder-Mieszek
Ewa Wróblewska

Additional materials

PP_ksiega_dzungli_ekranyDownload the performance guide

Gallery

Three actors in geometric animal masks sit in a wooden structure resembling a boat — a figure in a camel mask wearing a beige coat in the middle, next to actors in masks of a predator and a bull.
An actor in a beige costume in a fighting gesture with two figures in large, geometric wolf masks; on the right side of the stage, a wooden puppet controlled by a puppeteer is visible.
A young man in a beige shirt sits on a wooden platform, surrounded by two figures in large geometric animal masks — a dark bear mask and a white wolf mask.
Close-up of an actor in a burgundy jacket with a large, angular, burgundy bull mask with horizontal horns, against a dark stage background.
A young actor in a beige shirt holds a wooden child puppet and looks at an older actor in a geometric mask covering the lower part of his face; in the background, an actress in a similar mask.
photos: Tomasz Ogrodowczyk

Trailer

trailer: Mateusz Dziworski

Poster

Theater poster for the performance "The Jungle Book," depicting a boy face to face with a pink tiger among jungle leaves, with a panther and a bear looking out from below.
poster: Ada Jarzębowska