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    The Jungle Book: - play script
    The Jungle Book: - play script
    The Jungle Book: - play script
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    The Jungle Book: - play script

    By Neil Duffield and Rudyard Kipling

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    This timeless classic is brought to life for the stage in a vibrant new musical version by award-winning children’s playwright Neil Duffield.


    Mowgli, the ‘wolf-cub boy’ and his friends Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther transport us to the jungle in a story that has remained a favourite for generations. Can Mowgli discover the secret of man’s red flower? Can he fight off the terrifying tiger, Shere Khan? Will he be able to overcome the many dangers of the jungle and live there happily? Or will he leave his wild friends and join the humans in the village?


    Faithful to Kipling’s original beloved story, this beautifully staged musical adaptation has proven a hit with theatres both in the UK and abroad.




    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAurora Metro Books
    Release dateJul 5, 2017
    ISBN9781906582272
    The Jungle Book: - play script

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    Reviews for The Jungle Book

    4/5

    942 ratings46 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Beautiful, brilliant, nostalgic...
    • 3/5
      The Jungle Book, a three star rated book, would be a good book for elementary or middle level students. The book comes in pictures or just words. This book is a classic tale that teachers could have a good time with to introduce the jungle and/or wild animals.
    • 4/5
      This a collection of tales that include Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, and Shere Khan; the great snake Kaa and the Monkey People; the white seal Kotick; Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the human family he saves from the cobra couple Kala Nag and Nagaina; Little Toomai and the elephants; and a mule named Billy. "Mowgli's Brothers" is Chapter 1 and it's the basis for the popularized story and film called "The Jungle Book."These are stories of adventure and exploration of the world and its inhabitants. The adventures contain life's lessons along the way. I think most of these stories are fantastic in how they engage the reader through a fun plot and an easy reading style, especially "Mowgli's Brothers" and "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi."
    • 5/5
      Don't rely on Disney, read the book(s) for yourself! The cartoon I've seen of Rikki Tikki Tavi is a faithful adaptation, and there are other stories I was wholly unaware of, but everything involving Mowgli is a bit different. There's more too. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the film adaptations too, but the book is likewise worth your time, if not more so.
    • 5/5
      A classic that I loved since I read it for the first time at age 5. My favourite till today is Rikki Tikki Tavi, the mongoose who makes friends with beings so totally different from itself and protects them with wit and skill.Oh, and Bagheera, of course. Every child should have a Bagheera.
    • 5/5
      Not only a ripping yarn, but one with many lessons to be learned -- I have met far too many of the Bandar-Log in my time. It's been quite a while since I've read it, so parents might want to make this a read-aloud to be able to explain some of Kipling's outdated ideas. Take what's good and leave the rest.
    • 4/5
      This is a story about a little boy Mowgli. At the beginning of the story his parents are killed by the lame tiger Shere khan . Shere khan vows to eat Mowgli. But Mowgli learns the law of the jungle , how to hunt and how to make fire! as he is learning this, the evil savage monkeys catch him and make him teach them to weave stick and do man skills. But then Baloo and Bageera his two friends try to rescue him.He eventually kills Shere khan with a landslide of buffaloes when he is acting herd boy at a man village. At the end he hunts freely with his brother wolfs.This book was very good. I recommend this book to many young readers. It helps you expose your mind to literature. There is lots of action in this book,there is lots of humor as well. I like how mowgli is brave . He is very courageous, he fought a tiger,can't get more courageous than that! Once again I recommend this book!
    • 4/5
      These are among the first books that I remember reading as a young boy. Of them my favorites were the Mowgli tales (developed by Disney for the cinema). Mowgli is an Indian infant who is lost in the jungle after Shere Khan (the tiger) kills his family. Bagheera (the black panther) places him with a wolf family that has a newborn litter. Mowgli's new "parents" and Bagheera and Baloo (the brown bear) sponsor him for membership in the Wolf Pack and, much to Shere Khan's chagrin, he is admitted. Thus Mowgli is raised according to Jungle Law, but has engendered the enmity of Shere Khan who is plotting his revenge and ingratiating himself with the younger wolves. This leads to an exciting denouement and with the several other Mowgli stories--there are some prequels--impressed this young reader. Kipling strikes a nice balance between anthropomorphizing the animals and understanding Mowgli's natural superiority. Also appearing in this collection is the story of Rikki Tikki Tavi--all about an intrepid young mongoose and his life or death battle to protect an Indian villa from a couple of particularly unpleasant cobras. Truly Rikki Tikki Tavi is one of the great heroes in all of literature. These stories are a great introduction for children (girls and boys) to the work of a true master storyteller. I enjoyed the adventures of Mowgli and his friends and eventually discovered more Kipling as I grew older.
    • 4/5
      I somehow never read any of the Kipling stories as a child, I only knew the Disney animated movie, and later the Jason Scott Lee [as Mowgli] live-action version. So I was very pleased to find just how good the stories are, even to an adult. They're much heavier than the movie portrayed, and there's a lot the movie left out, even from such a short book. Definitely something young people should read.
    • 4/5
      I loved the parts with Mowgli, but the other stories completely lost my interest, so I didn't read them. They could be good. Maybe great. I will never know.
    • 2/5
      After re-reading "Jungle Book" I still did not enjoy it. It's a book for children but as a child I did not enjoy it that much so I decided to put it off for x number of years. I guess a boy who grew up with wolves, bears and panthers just does not sit well with me but I did love the Disney movie. Maybe I'm just not a jungle girl and the Rules of the Jungle does not apply to me ;p.
    • 4/5
      Picked up as premium on Folio Society order instead of 'Autumn' offering. Later saw a preview for new CGI Jungle Book Disney movie, so a refresher read seemed timely. I enjoyed all the stories, most especially 'Toomai of the Elephants' that I had never before encountered.
    • 2/5
      Public domain book. It's been a long time since I saw the movie, and I've never read the novel. There's not actually a lot of "The Jungle Book" in this. Two, maybe three stories. And Shere Kahn is killed in the beginning. The rest are some stories about elephants and seals that involve a lot of "not things happening". It's not dissimilar from "Just So Stories". The stories just don't hold up well. They were meant for another time. Except "Rikki Tiki Tavi", which could take place in space with aliens if you switched some characters and settings around. I started skipping towards the end, because I just didn't feel like the stories mattered. If you want a Jungle Book fix, see the movie.
    • 3/5
      Summary: During the times of the British Raj in India, Mowgli is the 5-year-old son of the widowed Nathoo. Nathoo works as a tour guide. On one of his tours, he is leading Colonel Geoffrey Brydon and his men as well as Brydon's 5-year-old daughter Katherine, with whom Mowgli nicknames "Kitty" and is close friends. That night, Shere Khan attacks the encampment, killing some soldiers who had been hunting for fun in the jungle earlier, which had enraged Khan. When he tries to kill the third hunter, Buldeo, Nathoo defends Buldeo and is mauled to death by Shere Khan. In the confusion, Mowgli is lost in the jungle (so is left unaware of his father's death) - Brydon and his men now believe Mowgli has too been killed. Mowgli is soon spotted by Bagheera the gentle panther, who brings the boy to the wolf pack. Mowgli also befriends a bear cub named Baloo. Years later, Mowgli, now a young man, discovers Monkey City, a legendary ancient city filled with treasure, owned by King Louie who has his treasure guarded by Kaa the python.Elsewhere, Katherine and her father are still stationed in India. She and Mowgli meet again, but neither recognise the other. Katherine is also in a relationship with one of Brydon's soldiers, William Boone. Mowgli enters the village in search of Katherine. Boone and his men manage to capture him and see that he is in possession of a valuable dagger that he took from Monkey City. Katherine discovers an old bracelet of her mother's: one she gave Mowgli when they were children, and instantly realizes who Mowgli is. She and Dr. Julius Plumford (a good friend of Brydon's) decide that they must re-introduce Mowgli to civlization. In doing so, Mowgli and Katherine fall in love, much to Boone's displeasure. Boone later proposes to Katherine and she accepts. Around this time, Mowgli returns to the jungle as he does not feel at home in the village, among Boone's friends. After Boone's cruel treatment of Mowgli, Katherine realizes she cannot marry Boone, so her father decides to send her back to England.Meanwhile, Boone and his friends (Buldeo, Tabaqui, Lieutenant Wilkins, and Sergeant Harley) gather some bandits to capture Mowgli in order to find out where the treasure is. The men shoot and badly wound Baloo when he comes to Mowgli's defense. They then kidnap Katherine and her father (who is shot and wounded in the process) and use them as blackmail: if Mowgli leads them to the treasure, Katherine and her father shall live. That night, the group learns that Shere Khan has returned to the area and is following them.The next morning, Harley catches Mowgli escaping (from the aid of Bagheera) and gives chase, only to fall in quicksand and drowns, despite Wilkins' help. Mowgli then has an elephant take the injured Brydon back to the village and promises to rescue Katherine. Later, Tabaqui falls to his death when attempting to kill Mowgli. As the remaining group get nearer to the lost city, they hear Shere Khan nearby and separate. Wilkins accidentally shoots Buldeo in the leg and is then chased down and killed by Shere Khan. In Monkey City, Buldeo accidentally sets off a trap while trying to kill Mowgli and is buried alive, while Mowgli narrowly escapes. Only Mowgli, Katherine and Boone reach the treasure. In the treasure room, with King Louie and his fellow monkeys watching in amusement, Mowgli and Boone engage in a fight until Mowgli injures the soldier. Mowgli then escapes with Katherine, not before Boone tries to make up with Katherine by offering the wealthy life they would live together, to which she rejects. After they leave, Boone begins pocketing as much gold as he can, only to notice the primates have become silent; he is then attacked by Kaa. Boone falls into a moat at the center of the room and sinks to the bottom due to his backpack filled with treasure. The last thing Boone sees before Kaa kills him is the skeletal remains of people whom Kaa had killed in the past.As Mowgli and Katherine leave, they are ambushed by Shere Khan: when Mowgli shows no fear towards the tiger, Shere Khan sees him as a creature of the jungle and accepts him. Mowgli and Katherine return from the jungle and meet Katherine's father and Baloo, both of whom have recovered from their injuries under Plumford's care. Mowgli now becomes lord of the jungle and begins a relationship with Katherine.Personal Reaction: I love the story of this book. Classroom Extension: After reading the book I would have the kids watch the movie and compare and contrast them.
    • 5/5
      This is a story about a man who was brought up by wolves. The boy's name is Mougl.This is a famous story.So,It is easy for me to read this book, because Ihave been known this story.This is fiction,but there is a story that a boy was brought by wolves.I hope that peopl and animal can become friends like Mougli.In fact, man hurt a lot of animals. It is sad fact.
    • 5/5
      I have to say I like the movie better, but I think that's because of the music! It was an interesting story. Kipling either has an amazing imagination or he actually spent time in the jungle. Maybe it's both.
    • 4/5
      This classic story of a boy raised by a pack of wolves has lost none of its power over the years, but the Disney movie certainly doesn't do it justice. Mowgli's journey to manhood is so much more complicated than that depiction shows. He learns the jungle law from the vivid characters Baloo the bear and the panther Bagheera and he must fight the tiger Shere Khan, but the true story lies in his life as a misfit. Though he's raised in the jungle, most animals never accept him. Then when he returns to the human village he finds the same is true there. He has no real home and the pain of that breaks his heart.
    • 3/5
      The Mowgli stories are excellent - the rest, less so. Even Riki Tiki Tavi, it turns out, isn't so great. Too bad - I remember a great animated version of it that I watched as a kid.The imperialism is present, though not generally so obtrusive as might be expected (the final story an exception, obviously).
    • 3/5
      I hadn't realized The Jungle Book was actually a collection of stories Kipling wrote, including the one I know and love in the form of a Disney movie. I was quite surprised (and happy!) to see Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (a personal favorite of mine) and a few others that I hadn't heard of. Each story was entertaining, short, and descriptive. It made me want to go back and watch the movie versions of The Jungle Book (in which I don't recall Bagheera being quite so endearing) and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. This is a classic that many can enjoy for generations to come.
    • 3/5
      Wonderful descriptions...but all the laws that must be obeyed just because get under my skin. Why is Akela "The Lone Wolf" when he is the leader of the pack? This is not the only bit that doesn't make sense.When I was young I found the stories about Mowgli tremendously exciting and longed to go live in the jungle with a wolf pack myself. Killing my enemy and being the darling of all other reputable creatures in the jungle seemed like great fun. I also wanted to be a mongoose. I found many of the poems moving and evocative.The chatter of the livestock in the camp in the last story was obviously intended as some kind of allegory about the social structure of the British Empire and neighboring Afghanistan.As an adult I'm much more interested in finding out the truth behind the tales. For example, fur seal rookeries are really as crowded as Kipling describes them and fur seals really do live out in the ocean for a good eight months at a time. Sexual dimorphism is extremely pronounced with full grown males weighing up to five times as much as full grown females. The seals can way up to 500 lbs. Clubbing the seals was the preferred way to begin the process of skinning them, and so forth.The reading by Rebecca Burns was too fast, almost breathless.
    • 4/5
      This small paperback edition contained the first three stories of Kipling's Jungle Books - "Mowgli's Brother"; "Kaa's Hunting"; and "Tiger! Tiger!"

      Kipling's prose impressed me with it's poetry and imaginative metaphors. A beautiful love letter to his adopted homeland of India. These stories have aged remarkably well.

      A must read for children, tweens, teen, young adults, and the young at heart.
    • 5/5
      best book ever... couldn't recommend enough
    • 3/5
      Verzameling verhalen waarvan alleen eerste 5 over Mowgli. Verhalen telkens gevolgd door bijhorend lied; zeer mooi geschreven.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this as an adult far more than I did as a child. When young, I expected the whole book to be about Mowgli. As an adult, I remembered that it was a collection of many things and thus wasn't disappointed. In fact, some of my favourites were not Mowgli stories. I particularly liked the story of the white seal.Kipling has a real gift with words (reminds me a little of Ursula le Guin) and some of his tales read like myth.I also appreciate the poems a lot more now. Kipling has a wonderful sense of rhythm, which I totally failed to appreciate when younger, but now really love.A small bonus for me was realising that the poem with 'Her Majesty's Servants' was set to the rhythm of several songs that I knew. When he talks of the cavalry cantering to 'Bonnie Dundee', the metre is that of 'Bonnie Dundee'. He also works 'British Grenadiers' and 'Lincolnshire Poacher' into the same poem.
    • 3/5
      A favorite classic from my childhood.
    • 3/5
      What can you say about such a classic as this? Mowgli is raised in the wilds of the Indian Junble by wolves, and has a series of adventures, in which he proves himself brave, and kind and fair. I enjoyed reading the stories that make up The Jungle Book, for all they were a product of the era in which they were written.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyed the main story of The Jungle Book, didn't enjoy the other stories in the book quite as much. Other than The Jungle Book I liked the story of Little Toomai.Wonder if J.K. Rowling was inspired by Rudyard Kipling when she created Nagini as there are two snakes in a story named Nag and Nagaina.Made me want to read The Just So stories again. I might look out for it on the Kindle.Think it tied in well with my EA300 course though I enjoyed it more for not having to study it!Would love to get a pretty illustrated version to read again in the future.
    • 5/5
      Even better now than when I was a child

      This is the first time I have read this book since I was a little girl. The stories are well written, for adult and child alike. It is a great thing to get to know these classical characters.
    • 2/5
      One of my favorites.
    • 3/5
      I think this book is a bit gruesome for children, but... oh well, that's just me. Maybe it's all a matter of point of view, the original fairy tales are not half as glamorous as it is shown by the Disney universe.

      I usually dislike books with talking animals, and this one was no exception. I found that this book was rather bland and it failed to draw my attention to any of its tales. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's was, by far, the most interesting one. As for the other ones, well, they're not really impressive. Indeed, perhaps I'm not the target audience of this book, thus my lack of interest for most of its aspects.

    Book preview

    The Jungle Book - Neil Duffield

    Pattison

    Introduction

    When, in 1992, I was approached by Action Transport Theatre Company to write a stage adaptation of The Jungle Book, I was fairly reluctant to take it on. The Disney film was much known and loved and my fear was that any stage version would be doomed to failure in comparison. However, when I went back to Kipling's original stories I found them very different to the film. And so, with the provisor that the stage version would bear little resemblance to the film, I felt happy to take on the commission.

    The Jungle Book itself is a collection of short stories which were originally published in magazines in 1893/4. Only three of them are concerned with the adventures of Mowgli the man-cub. However, in 1895 Kipling published The Second Jungle Book, a further collection of short stories, which included five more Mowgli stories.

    In adapting the stories for the stage I drew on material from all eight and set about the task of combining and blending them into one coherent narrative. What I like about the stories is that they are about growing up and coming of age. In his journey from boy to man, Mowgli has to overcome great obstacles and make difficult decisions. He learns that life is not easy and can sometimes throw up deeply contradictory situations. More than anything he has to find out which tribe, if any, he truly belongs to. In this sense Mowgli's story is universal. He learns the lessons all of us have to learn.

    Since I first wrote it, the script has received many productions, both professional and amateur, all over the world. However, until this year it has never been published. And I’m particularly pleased that its publication will be based on and featuring a youth theatre production. I’m a firm believer in the power of theatre to enrich the lives and education of children and young people, to help them learn to live passionate and compassionate lives. The Point Youth Theatre share this belief and combine it with high quality standards in the work they undertake – last year they staged an excellent production of my adaptation of A Christmas Carol. And so I’m especially pleased and proud that it will be their production of The Jungle Book which will feature in Aurora Metro’s publication of the script.

    Neil Duffield 2011

    THE JUNGLE BOOK

    by Rudyard Kipling

    adapted for the stage by Neil Duffield

    The Jungle Book was performed by The Point Youth Theatre as a promenade production at Itchen Valley Country Park from the 2nd – 7th August 2011 with the following cast:

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