Theatre in the Woods presents The Jungle Book
By Donna Lubow

An interactive children's theatre production of 'The Jungle Book' will be performed by Theatre in the Woods on Sunday, March 2 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm at the Estonian House on Estonian Lane just off Milwaukee Avenue, 1/4 mile north of Deerfield Road. Tickets are $5 for all ages; $3 each for groups of 20 or more. The performance lasts approximately one hour and is directed by Donna Lubow. Sandy Sagan is producer.

Imagination is the key in this version of The Jungle Book, written by Tim Kelly, adapted from the "Mowgli" stories by Rudyard Kipling. Members of the audience are asked to pretend they are in a hot jungle in India. The cast of characters consists of Mowgli, his friend Baloo, the bear; Kaa, the python; Shere Khan, a shrewd tiger; and Bagheera, the friendly panther.

The Great Wolf narrates the action and asks the children in the audience to imitate the sounds of various jungle animals as Mowgli's story unfolds. The audience is asked to chatter like monkeys, hiss like snakes, growl like tigers and make various jungle bird sounds. Volunteers are picked to be part of a wolf pack, howling whenever Kaa the Python hisses. Audience members also become elephants, marching in a circle to trample the grass so that Shere Khan can't hide in it. With the audience whoooing like the wind, booming like thunder and wriggling their fingers to simulate rain, this is truly a participatory theatre experience, appropriate for ages 3 and up.

For further information phone 847-914-0109.