The Jungle Book Curriculum Guide

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Standards 2 Guidelines for Attending the Theatre 3 “The Bare Necessities”

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Themes for Writing and Discussion 7 Mastery Assessment 12 For Further Exploration 13 Suggested Activities 24

© Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 September 2013 No portion of this Curriculum Guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education & Community Programs Inquiries should be directed to: Donna Glick | Director of Education Huntington Theatre Company 264 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115

AUTHOR CREDITS This curriculum guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by: Alexandra Truppi | Manager for Curriculum & Instruction with contributions by: Rebecca Curtiss | Communications Manager Donna Glick | Director of Education Dan Pecci | Creative Services Coordinator

ACADEMIC STANDARDS Student Matinee performances and pre-show workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Activities are also included in this Curriculum Guide and in our pre-show workshops that support several of the Massachusetts state standards in Theatre. Other arts areas may also be addressed depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 3

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 6

• Grade 6: Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or

change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

• Grade 7: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

• Grade 7: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

• Grade 8: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

• Grade 8: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in

a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

• Grades 9-10: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

• Grades 9-10: Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the themes.

• Grades 11-12: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view required distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

• Grades 11-12: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop related elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 5 • Grade 6: Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.

• Grade 7: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g. soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

• Grade 8: Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.

• Grades 9-10: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks), create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

• Grades 11-12: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

• Grade 6: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a

story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

• Grade 7: Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting,

sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).

• Grade 8: Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

• Grades 9-12: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g. recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist).

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MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS IN THEATRE Acting

Reading and Writing Scripts

• 1.7 — Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted or improvised scene (By the end of Grade 8).

• 2.7 — Read plays and stories from a variety of cultures and historical periods and identify the characters, setting, plot, theme, and conflict (By the end of Grade 8).

• 1.12 — Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ wants, needs, objectives, and personality characteristics (By the end of Grade 8).

• 2.8 — Improvise characters, dialogue, and actions that focus on the development and resolution of dramatic conflicts (By the end of Grade 8).

• 1.13 — In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a collaborative process) (By the end of Grade 8).

• 2.11 — Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of literature (Grades 9-12).

• 1.14 — Create complex and believable characters through the integration of physical, vocal, and emotional choices (Grades 9-12).

• 1.15 — Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a character analysis (Grades 9-12).

• 1.17 — Demonstrate increased ability to work effectively alone and collaboratively with a partner or in an ensemble (Grades 9-12).

• Strand 6: Purposes and Meanings in the Arts — Students will describe the purposes for which works of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and architecture were and are created, and, when appropriate, interpret their meanings (Grades PreK-12).

Technical Theatre

• 4.6 — Draw renderings, floor plans, and/or build models of sets for a dramatic work and explain choices in using visual elements (line, shape/form, texture, color, space) and visual principals (unity, variety, harmony, balance, rhythm) (By the end of Grade 8).

• 4.13 — Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production (Grades 9-12).

Connections

• Strand 10: Interdisciplinary Connections — Students will apply their knowledge of the arts to the study of English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering (Grades PreK-12).

AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE Attending live theatre is a unique experience with many valuable educational and social benefits. To ensure that all audience members are able to enjoy the performance, please take a few minutes to discuss the following audience etiquette topics with your students before you come to the Huntington Theatre Company.

• How is attending the theatre similar to and different from going to the movies? What behaviors are and are not appropriate when seeing a play? Why?

• Remind students that because the performance is live, the audience will affect the actors’ performance. No two audiences are exactly the same and no two performances are exactly the same — this is part of what makes theatre so special! Students’ behavior should reflect the level of performance they wish to see.

• Theatre should be an enjoyable experience for the audience. It is absolutely all right to applaud when appropriate and laugh at the funny moments. Talking and calling out during the performance, however, are not allowed. Why might this be? Be sure to mention that not only would the people seated around them be able to hear their conversation, but the actors on stage could hear them, too. Theatres are constructed to carry sound efficiently!

• Any noise or light can be a distraction, so please remind students to make sure their cell phones are turned off (or better yet, left at home or at school!). Texting, photography, and video recording are prohibited. Food and gum should not be brought into the theatre.

• Students should sit with their group as seated by the Front of House staff and should not leave their seats once the performance has begun.

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“THE BARE NECESSITIES” JUNGLE BOOK BASICS

THE AUTHOR RUDYARD KIPLING

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Born Joseph Rudyard Kipling on December 30, 1865 in Bombay, India.

His middle name was inspired by Rudyard Lake near Leek, Staffordshire, England, where his parents first met.

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Died January 18, 1936 in London, England.

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Parents: John Lockwood Kipling (an artist and teacher of architectural sculpture) and Alice (MacDonald) Kipling.

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Sister: Alice Kipling.

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Nationality: English. His parents referred to themselves as “Anglo-Indians,” a term often applied to people of British descent living in India in the late 19th century.

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Raised in: India until the age of 5 when he and his sister returned to London to live with a family who fostered children of British nationals living in India. Returned to India at age 16.

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Occupation before becoming a famous author: Journalist for the Civil and Military Gazette and its sister publication, the Pioneer newspaper, both in India.

Lorraine Hansberry

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Spouse: Caroline Balestier.

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Children: Josephine (born 1892), Elsie (born 1896), and John (born 1897).

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Other residences: Brattleboro, Vermont, United States from 1892-1896 and Torquay, Devon, England from 1896 until his death.

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Author of: Hundreds of short stories and poems, three novels, and an autobiography.

THE JUNGLE BOOK was first published in 1894 Other events from 1894: • Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.

• First public showing of Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope (moving pictures).

• George Bernard Shaw’s play, Arms and the Man, premieres in London.

• A fire destroys the South End Grounds, the home stadium of the Boston Beaneaters baseball team.

• The International Olympic Committee is founded.

• Labor Day is established as a federal holiday in the United States.

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SETTING: A jungle in India. In the story, Kipling placed the jungle in the Seeonee hills, a fictionalized version of the region around the town of Seoni in India’s Central Provinces (called Madhya Pradesh today). Although Kipling spent significant time living in India, he never visited Seoni. He did, however, have friends who vacationed there. An early draft of The Jungle Book’s first story, “Mowgli’s Brothers,” shows that Kipling originally set The Jungle Book in the Aravulli (now called Aravalli) hills area of Rajputana (now Rajasthan). Rajputana was an area approximately 400 miles northwest of Seoni that Kipling knew well.

STRUCTURE: The Jungle Book has an episodic structure consisting of ten fables (fictional stories featuring animals or mythical creatures and ending with a moral lesson), three of which focus on Mowgli, a young boy raised by wolves in the jungle.

SERIAL PUBLICATION: The stories in The Jungle Book were originally published in installments, called serials, in which one story appeared in the new issue of a magazine each month. Serialized literature was popular in Britain’s Victorian era (1837-1901).

SEQUEL: The Second Jungle Book, which consists of eight stories, five about Mowgli.

ADAPTATIONS: A live action film in 1942 and Disney’s animated version in 1967. The Huntington’s musical production draws inspiration from both the Disney film and Kipling’s original stories.

THE HUNTINGTON’S PRODUCTION: A coproduction with the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In a coproduction, two or more theatres work together to produce a show, sharing responsibilities such as financing, staffing, and casting, and giving the production a run of performances at each venue.

ADAPTER/DIRECTOR: Mary Zimmerman returns to the Huntington having previously directed her adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Journey to the West. Her Broadway work includes her Tony Award-winning production of Metamorphoses (Circle in the Square Theatre). Her other works include Arabian Nights, The Odyssey, Argonautika and The Secret in the Wings (Lookingglass Theatre Company), The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Mirror of the Invisible World, Silk, Galileo Galilei, an opera with Phillip Glass (Goodman Theatre), and Eleven Rooms of Proust (About Face Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, and Goodman Theatre). These shows have been subsequently produced at such theatres as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Second Stage Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Other credits include Pericles and All’s Well That Ends Well at Goodman Theatre, Henry VIII and Measure for Measure (New York Theatre Festival’s Shakespeare in the Park) and White Snake (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Metropolitan Opera credits include Lucia Di Lammermoor, La Sonnambula, and Armida. She is the recipient of a 1998 MacArthur Fellowship and the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play, and is a professor of performance studies at Northwestern University.

TRIVIA: The Cub Scouts have used themes and symbols from The Jungle Book in the frameworks for their programs since 1914 • The animated Disney version of The Jungle Book was the last film personally overseen by Walt Disney • “The Bare Necessities” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1967 • The Huntington Theatre Company coproduced the musical Candide, also adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman, with the Goodman Theatre in 2011 • Several other Disney films have been adapted into musicals for the stage, including The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast.

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QUESTIONS 1. Watch the animated Disney film of The Jungle Book and read Kipling’s original stories in The Jungle Book that pertain to Mowgli. Compare and contrast these versions with the Huntington’s production, in terms of characters, plot, music, imagery, and tone. What elements did adapter Mary Zimmerman draw from each source? Remember that Kipling’s readers in 1894 received the whole story in serialized installments rather than in one volume. What effect do you think the serialized publication had on readers’ experience and impressions of the story?

2. Based on what you already know about The Jungle Book, what do you expect to see onstage when you come to the theatre?

3. As a theatre artist, Mary Zimmerman is known for her bold visual aesthetic. What similarities are there among the works she has been drawn to for both adaptation and directing projects?

How do you describe her approach to storytelling?

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THEMES FOR WRITING AND DISCUSSION Identity and Belonging IN ACT I OF THE JUNGLE BOOK,

KING LOUIE SINGS TO

MOWGLI

,

THE MAN-CUB:

“I wanna be like you I wanna walk like you Talk like you too You’ll see it’s true An ape like me Can learn to be human, too.”

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K

ing Louie may be royalty in the animal kingdom, but he is eager to trade this status to assume a place at the top of the food chain occupied by human beings like Mowgli. He is convinced that he can do it if Mowgli will teach him the secret of how to make and control the red flower (known to humans as fire). Mowgli, however, does not have the slightest idea of how to do this. He has already devoted an enormous amount of time trying to convince other animals that he belongs in the jungle and not in the man-village, and does not believe that he possesses any insights into human knowledge. This tension, while he may not be aware of it, has been at the core of Mowgli’s entire existence in the jungle. Is he a man-cub or a wolf-cub? In The Jungle Book, who Mowgli is and where he belongs is a struggle faced not only by him, but by the other animals of the jungle as well.

When the wolves first discover Mowgli alone in the jungle, he is a helpless stranger. If the pack does not intervene, he will quickly become prey for Shere Khan, the tiger. At the urging of the panther, Bagheera, the wolves agree to give Mowgli a new jungle identity as a member of their pack and to raise him as one of their own. But as the years go by and Mowgli grows, it becomes clear that the pack cannot defend him forever. Mowgli is a human being who does not belong in the jungle and Bagheera must bring him back to the man-village, a fact that Mowgli has difficulty accepting. When he notices that Bagheera is leading him away from the wolf-pack’s caves in Act I, Mowgli inquires as to whether they should “start back home.” Bagheera, realizing that he must confess their true destination, explains that “in a manner of speaking, we are,” and reiterates that the man-village is where Mowgli belongs. Mowgli strongly rejects this notion, arguing that he is the same as all of the other jungle residents because he obeys the same laws of the jungle that they do.

It is not until Bagheera reveals a long-kept secret that Mowgli begins to doubt his identity as a wolf cub. The reason why Bagheera was so adamant that the wolves take Mowgli in as one of their own was based on his own experience. “There is no one in the jungle that knows this,” Bagheera confesses: “...but I was born among men. And it was among men that my mother died—in the cages of the king’s palace at Oodeypore. I had never seen the jungle. They fed me behind bars from an iron pan. I was all alone and never saw another that was like me. That is what I thought when I first saw you—a little cub alone in a strange world without your mother or any of your kind . . . One night, I saw that the lock was not quite right, and all of the sudden, my true nature came to me. I remembered that I was a panther, and I broke that lock apart with one blow of my paw, and I came away, to my true home.”

(Act II) While Mowgli initially resists Bagheera’s logic that “a panther belongs in the jungle” and “a man-cub belongs with men,” his interaction with Baloo reveals that he has growing doubts.

“Hold on there, fella,” Baloo exclaims upon first encountering a pouting Mowgli in Act I. “I’ve seen everything in these woods, but nothing like a pretty thing like you! What are you?”

“I used to be a wolf,” Mowgli responds dejectedly. Baloo is quick to fill the void by making Mowgli an honorary bear, teaching him to punch, growl, and eat like one, too. Mowgli finds the idea of a new identity as a bear cub very appealing, but Bagheera soon stops his training by reminding both he and Baloo that they must continue on their journey to the man-village.

The thought of Mowgli being brought up by humans is horrifying to Baloo, who remarks that “they’ll ruin him. They’ll make a man out of him.” Mowgli, meanwhile, grows more and more enraptured with the jungle-life embodied by Baloo. When Baloo and Bagheera save him from the monkeys’ kidnapping, he comes away still singing King Louie’s song, “I Wanna Be Like You.” But it’s not a man or a monkey that Mowgli wants to be like. It’s a bear like Baloo.

Yet even Baloo cannot ignore reality forever and soon understands what Bagheera already knows—Mowgli is not a wolf cub, or a bear cub, or a monkey. He is a human being who will only be safe if he accepts his identity and returns to his own kind. Though Baloo and Bagheera have his best interests at heart, Mowgli feels betrayed by them and is filled with even more uncertainty about where he belongs. The jungle’s vultures, Giddah, Palla, Bhanana, and Patli, seize the opportunity to prey on his confusion and isolation: GIDDAH: You look like you haven’t got a friend in the world.

MOWGLI: I don’t.

PALLA: No mother or father?

MOWGLI: No. Nobody wants me around.

BHANANA: Yeah, we know how you feel.

PALLA: Nobody wants us around either.

GIDDAH: No one is happy to see us.

PATLI: No one invites us.

GIDDAH: But we got hearts.

PALLA: And feelings, too.

GIDDAH: We have everything in common! Why don’t you join our little group? Be an honorary vulture!

(Act II)

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(continued from previous page) But Mowgli is not interested. A fateful encounter with Shere Khan shows Mowgli that although he may have to leave the jungle, the jungle does not have to leave him.

Lieutenant George of the elephant herd is the one to ramblingly articulate this truth: “In the greater scheme of things, as it were, we all have the same feelings and aspirations and our outer forms may determine our outer lives, but we have an inner life where we all just want to be happy and certainly being lost is not very happy especially when one feels out of place although of course we all have our place if only we could see it that nothing is really strange to any of us because we are all related whether elephant or soldier or littler boy or even the insects and all the pretty flowers in the morning but because of what we look like and sound like and smell like of course that sometimes isn’t always easy to remember and sometimes it is the thing we forget the most because it makes life easier and because if we give over to that knowledge then our hearts would have to open and our lives would have to change.”

QUESTIONS

(Act II)

1. Rudyard Kipling lived in India until he was five years old, at which point he was sent to England where he lived with an abusive foster family until he was a teenager. What does this chapter of Kipling’s biography imply about his choice to write about an orphan looking for a home in The Jungle Book? How does this connect to adapter/director Mary Zimmerman’s choice to bookend the play by showing Mowgli as a Victorian boy reading a story?

2. India is historically known for its caste, or class, system, which created a socio-economic hierarchy based on factors such as ethnicity, religion, and occupation. Strict rules governed interactions between members of castes of different status. Research the hierarchy of the jungle from a zoological perspective and compare it with the animal relationships depicted in The Jungle Book.

Which characters have higher status? Which have lower status? Find evidence in the dialogue and in the production’s costumes that helps indicate the status of characters such as Bagheera, Akela, Shere Khan, and King Louie.

3. Scientifically speaking, why does King Louie repeatedly address Mowgli as “cousin”? From a literary perspective, why does he do this?

4. After his final battle, Shere Khan thanks Mowgli and confesses: “I never liked being a tiger, and I wasn’t even a very good one. These stripes have been like the bars of a cage to me. I made everyone miserable around me, but it was only because I was so lonely. The lonely ones make the loudest and the cruelest sounds, man-cub. Remember that. But because of you, my unexpected friend, I can go now and be something else.” What is Shere Khan saying about his role within the jungle and about identity in general? Have you ever felt caged in your own skin?

5. Explain the concept of “Nature vs. Nurture.” How does this relate to Mowgli’s struggle to understand who he is and where he belongs?

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Survival of the Fittest

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n 1864, biologist Herbert Spencer coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” after reading Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species. A synonym for natural selection, “survival of the fittest” refers to species’ ability to adapt to the demands of their environments. Those with skills and traits that are the most fitting for their surroundings are the ones who survive.

In The Jungle Book, several characters are fighting to demonstrate their fitness for survival in the Seeonee jungle. Mowgli is one of these characters and none of it comes naturally for him. From the first moments of the play until almost the very end, Mowgli is potential prey. One member of the pack almost immediately proposes eating him and had the other wolves agreed, Mowgli would not have survived his first day in the jungle. Mowgli is not a hunter but the hunted—by Shere Khan, by Kaa, by the monkeys, and by the vultures—and lacks the adaptations that enable the other animals to successfully navigate life in the jungle. Bagheera does his best to teach Mowgli what the animals already instinctually know, such as how to read the moon and stay down wind. Baloo, who teaches the cubs the Law of the Jungle, is certain that if Mowgli can simply learn “the bare necessities of life” he will do just fine.

“When you pick a paw-paw or a prickly pear,” he advises in Act I, “And you prick a raw paw next time beware / Don’t pick the prickly pear by paw / When you pick a pear, try to use the claw.” But without fur to protect him from the elements, claws and sharp teeth to defend himself against attackers, a highly developed sense of smell for finding food, or a body built for climbing trees, swinging through branches, or leaping long distances, Mowgli is at an extreme disadvantage.

But while predators know that they can physically outmatch Mowgli, they fear and envy the human advantages he will gain as he grows intellectually. “Shere Khan is never going to let you grow up to learn the secrets of men—the secrets of guns and the red flower,” Bagheera warns in Act I. “The men folk call it fire . . . It is the one enemy that Shere Khan can’t withstand. None of us can. If it touches us, there is nothing we can do, it burns us up and we’re finished. Shere Khan won’t let you live to gain that power.” It is this power that King Louie so covets. “I reached the top / And had to stop / And that’s what’s bothering me,” he sings at the end of Act I. King Louie is the most powerful member of the jungle species most closely related to man and he longs to pick up the skills that he believes can put him at the top of the food chain. “What I desire,” he continues to sing, “Is man’s red fire / To make my dream come true / Now give me the secret man-cub / Come on, clue me what to do / Give me the power of man’s red flower / So I can be like you.”

Power plays an important role in the survival of other animals in the jungle, too. Akela, the leader of the wolf pack, knows that he will only hold this position as long as he proves his strength and skill. He is growing older, however, and every animal in the jungle knows it. Bagheera uses this fact to his advantage to convince Akela that the pack must protect Mowgli from Shere Khan, and makes a bargain with him. “Akela, if you see fit, tomorrow, at the looking over, to spare the life of that man-cub until the time comes that he may safely leave the pack,” he proposes, “I will in return, see to it that the day or night you first miss your mark, you may safely leave the pack as well, and not suffer the horrible death of wolf leaders no longer fit to lead . . . Call to me, in that moment, and I’ll defend you from the others with all I have. This I promise you . . . A life for a life.” But some in the pack have seen Akela’s weakness and are already plotting his demise:

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GHARAT GAR: “The leader?” For now, perhaps.

DAANT: It won’t be long.

GHARAT GAR: Any day now he’ll miss his mark.

RAMA: He almost did last night.

GHARAT GAR: He did?

DAANT: I saw it, too. Had that calf not been weak herself, he would have missed.

BHUKKA: He’s turned all gray.

DAANT: It won’t be long.

GHARAT GAR: And then he’s finished.

DAANT: He can’t defend himself.

RAMA: Not against all of us.

(Act I)

QUESTIONS 1. What is the Jungle Law? How does it govern the choices the animal characters make throughout the play?

2. Why has Shere Khan returned to kill Mowgli now, after ten years? Provide specific evidence from the script to support your answer.

3. What is it that destroys Shere Khan in the end?

4. At the end of the play, Bagheera hears Akela’s howl. What must Bagheera now do for Akela? What is the significance of this event occurring just as Mowgli agrees to return to the man-village?

5. What adaptations do panthers, tigers, wolves, and monkeys have that make them well-suited to their environments? Think about a time when you found yourself in a new environment, such as moving to a new neighborhood, switching to a different school, or starting a new job. In what ways did you have to adapt in order to be successful?

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MASTERY ASSESSMENT ACT ONE 1.

What do the wolves initially want to do with the boy they find in the jungle? What are they afraid could happen if they do this?

2.

Who is Shere Khan?

3.

Where does Rama the wolf take the boy?

4.

What does the name Mowgli mean?

5.

Who is Akela?

6.

What does Akela decide the wolf pack will do with Mowgli? Why?

7.

Where does Bagheera tell the wolf council he will take Mowgli?

8.

According to Mowgli, why should he be able to stay in the jungle?

9.

What is the “red flower�?

10.

Who is Kaa? What does he try to do to Mowgli?

11.

Who is Colonel Hathi?

12.

Why does Bagheera have no hair under his jaw?

13.

Who kidnaps Mowgli?

14.

Who is King Louie?

ACT TWO 15.

According to Bagheera, why do King Louie and the monkeys want Mowgli to give them the secret to the red flower?

16.

What does Bagheera convince Baloo to do?

17.

Who does Bagheera fear will find Mowgli before he does?

18.

What is Kaa doing when Shere Khan arrives?

19.

What group of birds offers to make Mowgli an honorary member?

20.

How does Mowgli defeat Shere Khan?

21.

What persuades Mowgli that he must go to the man-village?

22.

Why does Bagheera rush off into the jungle?

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FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION Producing the Musical (Handout) The Huntington’s production of The Jungle Book is a musical that melds multiple artistic genres, periods, and sources together—the original stories by Rudyard Kipling (1894), the animated Disney film (1967), American jazz and swing music (1940s-50s), and traditional Indian folk music all make appearances. The production is also a new contribution to the American musical theatre, a dramatic form that overlaps with other types of performance and solidified as its own genre in the 1920s.

1.

Ask students to work in groups to research and define each of the following musical theatre forms.

Encourage students to check out YouTube and the websites of regional theatre and opera companies to find recorded examples of productions that demonstrate their findings on the variety of music, songs, and artists working in these genres both historically and today. Assign teams to one or more of the following categories: • Opera • Operetta • Ballad Opera • Minstrelsy • Vaudeville • Burlesque

• Revue • Follies • Oratorio • Musical Comedy • Concept Musical • Rock Musical/Rock Opera

2.

Many musicals have a book, or script, that is adapted from or inspired by an existing source. For example, the book for the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Jungle Book is a blend of the original stories by Rudyard Kipling and the animated Disney film. Create student teams to report on one of the following musicals adapted from some other source material.

• West Side Story—Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, 1957 • The Color Purple—Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, 2005 • The Threepenny Opera—Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, 1928 • Wicked—Stephen Schwartz, 2003 • Fiddler on the Roof—Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, 1964 • My Fair Lady—Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, 1956 • Carousel—Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, 1945

Questions to consider:

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• What was the musical’s original source material and when was it written?

• What, if any, significant changes were made to the story when it was adapted?

• What themes are prevalent in the musical? In the original source material?

• What connections exist between the musical’s themes and the original material’s historical context?

Did historical events have any influence on the musical adaptation?

3.

Consider the major components of a work of musical theatre: book, lyrics, and score.

• The book (sometimes called the libretto) generates the “theatre” in musical theatre. It is the glue that binds the other elements of the musical together. The book includes some basic dramatic elements:

• Characters—the people the story is about

• Plot—the sequence of actions which drive the characters, ideas, or situations

• Dialogue—speech among the characters that is generally a companion in tone

and style to the lyrics

In a traditional musical book, the following elements are generally established within the first five minutes of the performance through either action or exposition:

• Time—this can mean time of day, season, historical period, a specific year • Place—geographical setting • Characters—including social identity, status, relationships • Theme—a hint of the message or purpose of the story • Conflict—obstacles that the characters must overcome • Tone—the attitude towards the subject and the audience

• The lyrics are an integral part of the story and are created to develop character and/or move the plot of the musical along. Lyrics must be compact and dense with word meaning as they must share time with dialogue, dance, scenery changes, and instrumental music.

• The score is the music. Music expresses and reinforces the emotion in drama and underscores dramatic action. It establishes the tone and sets the mood of a piece of theatre. Its components are:

• Melody—musical tones that create an aural (heard) image of the lyrics

• Harmony—contrasting tones that color the aural image

• Rhythm—the pattern of beats in the music that can highlight or contrast with

character and action

Questions to consider after attending the Huntington’s production of The Jungle Book: 1. Did the book or the music seem to take up more time in the production? When did the music under score the dialogue? How did the underscoring affect your understanding of the scene?

2. What happened in the first few minutes of the performance that established time, place, characters, theme, conflict, and tone?

3. Was the music in the production live or recorded? How did you know?

4. The music of The Jungle Book blends multiple influences, including jazz, swing, and traditional Indian music. Research these diverse musical styles. What instruments are commonly used in creating these types of music? Who are the musicians best known for performing in these genres?

5. How did the music’s lyrics and score help develop the plot or reveal character?

6. Choose one song and describe its tone and style. What genre influences can you find in the song?

How do the song’s melody and rhythm reflect the personality of the character(s) who sing it?

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4.

It takes the hard work and expertise of many people doing a variety of different jobs to bring a theatrical production to life onstage. Specific needs can vary, but most professional productions will have the same core staff including a Director, Stage Manager, and designers for Costumes, Lighting, Scenery, and Sound. In addition to those required for a play, there are other jobs and responsibilities that are unique to musical productions.

• Music Director: a person who coaches the actors and musicians as they learn their parts in the

production’s songs, and may also create orchestrations (the parts played by different

instruments within the songs)

• Choreographer: a person who creates dances and movement

Questions to consider after viewing the Huntington Theatre Company’s production: 1. Mary Zimmerman, the director of The Jungle Book, frequently works with the same design team. They began their work on this production by traveling to India for two-and-a-half weeks to research the country’s sights and sounds. Describe the production’s visual vocabulary. What shapes, colors, and patterns do you see? What images and emotions did they evoke?

2. How were the set and lighting used to suggest specific locations, times of day, and moods?

Consider moments from your own daily life. If one of those moments were to be transformed into a scene from a play, what scenic elements would need to be constructed? What sources and qualities of light would be present?

3. Most of the characters in The Jungle Book are animals. What specific challenges did the costume designer for this production face? How did the designer address these challenges?

4. Describe the dancing in The Jungle Book. How did the choreographer use dance to tell the story?

What styles of dance inspired the choreography in the production? How are these styles similar to and different from other types of dance you may have seen in other contexts?

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The “Jungle” facebook Who are the key players in The Jungle Book? Check out these profiles of the main characters and then use your own creativity, plus research on the animals’ habitats, food sources, and family units to make new ones for Raksha, King Louie, and the Peacock Lady!

Profile

facebook

Mowgli

Name: Mowgli (Man Cub)

Work: Just being a kid—I mean—WOLF CUB at The Jungle

Living

Current Location: The Jungle in the Seeonee Hills Past Location: The Man-Village Family: Raksha (Mother Wolf)

Rama (Father Wolf)

Brother Wolves

The Whole Pack

Bagheera

Balloo

Likes: Exploring, climbing, hunting, playing, eating, not listening to Bagheera, dancing, singing,

being a wolf, plucking thorns from fellow wolves’ paws

Recent Places: The whole jungle and NOT the Man-Village…well, maybe the Man-Village, too.

Groups: Wolf Cubs (NOT Man-Cubs), I Have An Awesome Adoptive Family,

Two-Legged Jungle Residents, Anti-Growing Up

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Profile facebook Bagheera

Name: Bagheera (Black Leopard aka Panther)

Work: Mowgli’s Protector and Teacher at the Jungle

Living

Current Location: The Jungle in the Seeonee Hills Past Location: The king’s palace at Oodeypore

Family: None—Solitary (Mowgli)

Likes: Running, leaping more than 20 feet, sleeping during the day, eating prey in trees,

teaching Mowgli, rescuing Mowgli, being serious, the laws of the jungle

Recent Places: Most of Africa and China, other parts of the Middle East and Asia, including India

Groups: Panthera Pardus Anonymous, Melanism (I Still Have Spots!), Nocturnal Hunters, Endangered Species

Profile facebook Colonel Hathi

Name: Colonel Hathi (Indian Elephant)

Work: Commander at Elephant Army

Living

Current Location: The Jungle in the Seeonee Hills Past Location: The field of battle Family: Winnifred (wife)

Baby Elephant (baby)

Likes: Military training exercises, marching formations, uniforms, discipline, good character, eating plants

Recent Places: South and eastern Asia, the jungle underbrush, the water hole, left, right, left

Groups: Leadership 101, Drill Instructors, the Maharaja’s Fifth Pachyderm Brigade,

Victoria Cross Recipients, How to Stay Close to Water

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Profile facebook Akela

Name: Akela (Indian Wolf)

Work: Head of the Pack at Seeonee Pack

Living

Current Location: A cave in the Seeonee Hills

Family: The Seeonee Pack

Likes: Hunting, leading pack councils, giving advice,

protecting the pack from the man-world, tradition, being alone

Recent Places: Caves, the Middle East to Central Asia

Groups: Free People, Nocturnal Hunters, Leadership 101

Profile facebook Baloo

Name: Baloo (Sloth Bear)

Work: Teacher at Seeonee Hills

Living

Current Location: A cave...or by the river...or in a tree...or

anywhere, really

Family: Mowgli (Bear Cub)

Likes: Teaching the Jungle Laws, singing, dancing, climbing,

eating bugs and fruits

Recent Places: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan

Groups: Teachers, Termite Cuisine, Bust-a-Move, Non-Hibernating Bears

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Profile facebook Shere Khan

Name: Shere Khan (Bengal Tiger)

Work: Feared hunter at Seeonee Hills

Living

Family: None

Current Location: The Jungle in the Seeonee Hills Past Location: The Wainganga River

Likes: Hunting Mowgli, manipulating and intimidating others,

making threats, stalking prey

Recent Places: Lurking in the shadows, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Burma

Groups: Tigers Who Never Forget, Strategies for Hunting Humans, Coping with Self-Loathing,

Lonely Jungle Animals, Top of the Food Chain, Endangered Species

Profile facebook Kaa

Name: Kaa (Python)

Work: Hypnotist at The Jungle

Living

Family: None

Current Location: A banyan tree in the Seeonee Hills Past Location: Tall grasses in the Seeonee Hills

Likes: Playing with food, hypnosis, staying on Shere Khan’s good side

Recent Places: Southern Asia

Groups: Wannabe Villains, Hypnotist Tricks, Constrictors, Camouflaged Carnivores

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Kipling’s India I. British India and the Raj

W

hen Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, in 1867, the British had already ruled the region for over 100 years. The British Raj (or reign—derived from the Sanskrit word raja, which means “king”) is widely considered to have begun in 1765, but Britain’s involvement in India began as early as 1600 with the founding of the British East India Company, which was originally created to pursue trade opportunities in the Indian subcontinent. Other European nations, namely the Portuguese and the Dutch, were engaged in similar missions, leading to fierce competition and frequent altercations at sea. The British sought to solidify their dominance in the region by negotiating a treaty between King James I and Mughal Emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir to give the British East India Company exclusive rights to build factories in strategic regions in exchange for providing the Indians with European goods.

At the time of the treaty, the Mughal Empire was a powerful civilization of between 110 and 150 million people and controlled much of the Indian subcontinent, including modern day Pakistan.

In the next one hundred and fifty years, Britain would fend off European rivals to expand its presence from just a few strongholds along the Bay of Bengal to become the major power in the region. The British East India Company established its own army in the early 1700s to protect its interests and Britain formalized its authority in the region by installing a government in India in 1865. This government, which came to be known as the Raj, was led by a viceroy, a leader appointed by the crown to oversee British India and the princely states. The regions considered British India consisted of eight provinces (including the Kiplings’ Bombay), the larger of which were administered by a Governor or Lieutenant Governor and the smaller of which were led by a Chief Commissioner. The areas referred to as native or “princely” states were very small, somewhat sovereign territories with Indian rulers. While the British did not directly govern the princely states, they did reserve the authority to choose whether or not to officially recognize the Indian princes and to determine what powers the princes had. As the number of British nationals living in India steadily increased, they created a society that referred to themselves as “Anglo-Indians,” a term with which Kipling’s parents would also identify. Meanwhile, the British public was fascinated by tales of India’s climate and wildlife and attached a sense of exoticism to impressions of the region.

Tensions between the British and Indians grew as Indians became concerned with cultural changes caused by British influence. In 1857, ten years before Rudyard Kipling’s birth, a group of sepoys (a term used to describe Indian soldiers in service of a foreign power) from the Bengal army rebelled after being required to bite off their paper rifle cartridges, which had been greased with beef and pork fat, an action which was in direct conflict with their Hindu and Muslim faiths. In May of 1857, the soldiers shot their British officers, marched to Delhi, and pledged their support to the Mughal Emperor. Many civilians were inspired to join the rebellion, which resulted in significant loss of life on both sides. But the British began to gain traction in late 1857 and finally put down the rebellion in June of 1858. Following the end of the rebellion, the British crown formally dissolved both the British East India Company and the Mughal Empire, exiling the Mughal Emperor to Burma and consolidating all governing ruling power. It reorganized the Indian military to create more all-British units, disbanded units comprised of ethnic or religious groups considered to be at the heart of the rebellion, and increased the number of units comprised of those ethnic and religious groups deemed loyal. The crown also imposed new legal codes based on British law, many of which focused on record-keeping such as the registration of births, deaths, and marriages. All of these changes were met with some resistance from Indians who saw these new laws as interfering with Indian customs, particularly as they pertained to women.

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D

uring the mid-nineteenth century, however, an educated professional class began to grow in India, consisting of Indian graduates of British universities established just before the rebellion, which featured largely British curricula inspired by institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge. Graduates of these schools went on to hold largely mid-level bureaucratic jobs.

But due to British perception that they were untrustworthy, Indians did not hold high-level positions in government or industry, which was growing in tandem with the West’s Industrial Revolution. Canals, bridges, and communication technologies such as the telegraph were expanded throughout the region. The modern railway systems built in India in the late 19th century was the Raj’s marquee industrial development, and although it was the fourth largest railway system in the world and required significant man-power to operate, it was entirely British-run. All supervisors, engineers, and communications personnel on Indian railroads were European until the 1930s, meaning that the only Indians employed by the railways were unskilled workers. Frustration continued to simmer within the Indian public throughout the latter half of the 19th century—over British economic practices, over the use of Indian troops in imperial campaigns in Afghanistan, and over regional famines that left more than 14 million people dead in the British provinces alone between 1867 and 1899. During Kipling’s early childhood, from 1868-1870, famine struck Rajputana, the region Kipling would choose years later as the original setting for The Jungle Book.

late 19th century, and objected to high taxes imposed upon Indians to pay for the salaries of British officials. Initially, members of the INC had faith in the British system of democracy but became more nationalist in the face of opposition from the British government. The INC consolidated the power and energy of several early Indian nationalist groups by setting down goals of promoting friendship and cooperation among these various groups and eradicating their differences over racial and provincial issues as they focused on the unified objective of independence. British Viceroy George Curzon, who held his position as the crown’s representative in India from 1899-1905, made some headway in alleviating the tension by promoting reforms such as standardization of currency, forgiveness of peasant debts, and the preservation of Indian artifacts and antiques. However, he became a controversial figure when he divided the Bengal province into two parts—the primarily Muslim east and the primarily Hindu west. This was seen as a deliberate attempt by the British to create divisions in the growing nationalist movement, leading to protests and spreading anti-government sentiments.

India was a politically tumultuous place when a sixteen-year-old Rudyard Kipling returned there in 1883 to begin his second stint living in the country.

He stayed in India for six years, working mostly as a journalist, meaning that he was living there during the early days of the Indian National Congress

Meanwhile, the Indian middle class, familiar with British philosophies but committed to Indian traditions and culture, worked to gain access to larger roles in their government. In 1885, such a group of Indians and British allies founded the Indian National Congress in Bombay to work on behalf of the Indian people. The INC held Britain’s economic exploitation of India responsible for draining India of its wealth, blamed British policies for the famines of the

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Tiger Hunting Expedition, 1903

and the beginning of the Indian nationalist movement. While Kipling himself would proclaim his love of India, critics cite imperialist tones in his writing as reminders that Kipling was a British citizen writing for a British audience.

II. The Imprint of Imperialism IMPERIALISM :

(n) 1. The policy of forming and maintaining an empire, as by establishing colonies 2. The policy of seeking to dominate the affairs of weaker countries (Webster’s New Dictionary)

A

s a British citizen living at a time when Great Britain was expanding its global influence, Kipling was exposed to the country’s imperialist perspective from childhood. It is natural, then, that elements of this worldview would find their way into his fiction and poetry. In The Jungle Book, this mostly happens when the characters discuss their concerns about what Bagheera refers to in Act I as “the man-world.” Bagheera has more experience with humans than most of the other animals, and he confides to Akela that if they allow Shere Khan to kill Mowgli, they “will have the whole of the man world down on [their] heads.” As he reveals to Mowgli later in the play, Bagheera was born in captivity and for many years did not understand his true nature as a panther. Just as Indians during the Raj grew concerned that their cultural identity was being suppressed by the British who imposed their rule upon them, Bagheera’s identity was suppressed by the human beings who kept him confined.

His fears about what could happen if Shere Khan killed Mowgli are, of course, partially grounded in genuine concern for a helpless being. But there is also part of Bagheera that fears what would happen to his jungle home if humans invaded with their guns and fire, and he desperately wants to preserve the jungle way of life.

The British do have some representation in The Jungle Book in the form of the elephant herd, and in the costuming of the Huntington’s production, the elephants are even dressed in period British military uniforms. A brief confrontation between the elephant commander, Colonel Hathi,

and Mowgli epitomizes the core conflict between the Indians and the British. When Colonel Hathi discovers that Mowgli has mixed in with his herd, he exclaims: “Oh, this is treason! Sabotage! I’ll have no man-cub in my jungle!” Mowgli’s defiant response? “It’s not your jungle!”

When Mowgli goes missing, Bagheera asks Colonel Hathi for help finding him, worrying that Shere Khan may get to Mowgli first. Colonel Hathi firmly rejects the notion and, in the process, articulates another imperialist viewpoint. “Nonsense, old boy,” he tells Bagheera in Act II. “Shere Khan isn’t within miles of here! And, as I am a man of the military, you may always take my word as infallible and indisputable fact.” Colonel Hathi’s views are also heavily informed by the gender roles and expectations of Victorian society. When his wife, Winifred, expresses frustration with Colonel Hathi’s refusal to help in the search for Mowgli, Hathi reacts in shock. “Winifred, what are you doing out of ranks,” he asks. “It’s insubordination and . . . Well, it’s impolite and rather embarrassing.”

Winifred continues to insist that they help find the boy, reasoning that they would not want to have their own child be lost alone in the jungle. Her husband is unmoved, but his rationale unravels as he speaks. “Well, one’s own children are more important than the children of others, that’s quite evident, everyone knows that,” he points out: “The world runs on that—unless…of course you are the others, in which case someone else’s children, that is to say the “yours” of “those” then they are more important than…” His wife cuts him off, providing some commentary on his views: “That is nonsense of the most brutal and selfish kind! And it’s everything that’s wrong with the world!”

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QUESTIONS • Although Kipling spent his early childhood living in India, his formative years were spent living in a foster home in England where he was emotionally and physically abused. How might these circumstances, combined with the exotic impressions of India held by the broader British public, have influenced the way Kipling depicted India in his writing? How are your own memories of people, places, and events from your own childhood impacted by the age you were at the time of your exposure to them?

1. The British Raj is considered to have formally existed from 1765 until 1947 when the Raj dissolved into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. a. What role did the Indian National Congress play in securing India’s independence from

Great Britain? b. Research the relationship between the countries of India and Pakistan. In what ways are

they similar—culturally, economically, and politically? What are the key cultural, economic,

and political differences between them? Since 1947, how have India and Pakistan’s relation

ships with Western countries evolved, particularly with Great Britain and the United States?

2. One of the most famous leaders of the Indian National Congress was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi). Gandhi formally led the INC in the early 1920s but was an active political leader in India and South Africa until he was assassinated in 1948.

What were Gandhi’s views on Swaraj (independence from the British Raj)? Gandhi is perhaps most remembered for his advocacy of the principles of non-violence. How did he apply these principles to accomplish his political goals?

3. Consider current events in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. How are the conflicts over power and territory connected to western imperialism from earlier centuries?

4. The wolves in The Jungle Book refer to themselves as the “free people” of the jungle. What is the significance of this description when considered in an imperialist context?

5. How does Bagheera’s time in captivity influence the decisions he makes in regard to Mowgli?

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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES Writing and Performing Fables The Jungle Book is classified as a fable (a fictional story that features animals or mythical creatures and ends with a moral lesson). The most famous author of fables was Aesop, an ancient Greek storyteller. Similar to The Jungle Book, Aesop’s works, collectively known as Aesop’s Fables, featured talking animals with human characteristics.

Review the core elements of fables with the students and then break down The Jungle Book or a story from Aesop’s Fables into the following:

• Characters • Setting • Plot/Events/Action • Moral

Be sure to stress the connections between the plot of the story and the moral. How do the characters’ experiences directly contribute to the lesson they learn?

Assign students a moral that they must use to create their own fable. Students should provide their own characters, setting, and plot.

Some example morals could be:

• One good turn deserves another.

• The early bird catches the worm.

• Haste makes waste.

• You can’t judge a book by its cover.

• Honesty is the best policy.

• Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.

• There are two sides to every story.

Divide students into small groups to perform each other’s fables for the class. Allow the author of the fable to serve as the narrator while the other students play the other roles.

Encourage students to make creative choices in how to portray animals or inanimate objects that serve as characters in the story.

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Analyzing Animal Symbolism With a cast full of animal characters, the themes of The Jungle Book are communicated in literal and symbolic layers. This poses a great opportunity to discuss how authors communicate meaning through symbols. Animals have been used throughout history as symbols for various concepts. Brainstorm some of these as a class—What animals do we connect with concepts such as bravery, peace, and wisdom? Why? What other words do we commonly associate with these animals? What animals are used as symbols in everyday aspects of our society, such as mascots for sports teams, political parties, and the names of cars? What are they intended to communicate about the people or product they represent?

Consider the possible symbolism of The Jungle Book’s animal characters and create a chart that breaks down the following:

• Character’s name and type of animal • Physical description of the animal’s appearance and of the costume used in the production • Description of sounds the animal and vocal choices the actor made that were inspired by those sounds • The animal’s behavior and examples of this from the musical • Words that the animal could represent

Use these charts to inspire tableaus (frozen images that tell a story) of the animal characters’ symbolism. Divide students into groups of 4-5 and assign each one an animal from The Jungle Book. The group should:

• Identify a situation in the animal kingdom in which the animal would have to demonstrate the traits, qualities, or concepts they represent • Identify a human situation in which a person would have to demonstrate those same traits, qualities, or concepts • Create a tableau of each situation, using specific facial expressions and body language to communicate the characters and setting of the tableau

As each group shares their two tableaus, discuss with the rest of the class:

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• What are the relationships between the characters in the two tableaus?

• What do the situations depicted in the tableaus have in common?

• Where is the symbolism in each image?

Breaking Down Plot The stories in The Jungle Book were originally published in 10 installments in England, called serials, in which one story appeared in the new issue of a magazine each month.

Several of the stories share key characters and settings, but they are also short stories that stand on their own, each with a beginning, middle, and end. This structure is similar to many television shows in which the characters engage in new adventures or tackle a new set of challenges each week. This creates a challenge, however, for adapters who want to combine the episodes into one linear plot.

Use the format below to chart the plot of The Jungle Book as it appeared at the Huntington Theatre Company (From Left to Right, beginning with EXPOSITION).

C L I M A X (a decision must be made about the conflict) RISING ACTION FALLING ACTION (events that lead (events in which the to the conflict) conflict unravels) EXPOSITION RESOLUTION (intro of characters, (a new status quo setting, etc.)

is established—in a fable, includes the moral)

Next, reexamine Kipling’s original stories and compare them with the plot of the Huntington Theatre Company’s production. Which plot points come from which story?

Which events were newly inserted? Do the order in which the plot points appear in Kipling’s original versions and the order of events in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production match up? If not, why do you think the adapter arranged the events as they did? What would the effect be on plot and character development if…

• Shere Khan did not encounter Mowgli for the first time Bagheera led him towards the man-village?

• Akela was not old?

• Kaa succeeded in eating Mowgli?

• Baloo taught Mowgli “the bare necessities” before Bagheera led him towards the man-village?

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Acting—Scene Study and Character Analysis Select and perform a scene from The Jungle Book.

PART I: Begin preparations to perform the scene by completing the following questions: 1. What are the given circumstances (5 W’s) of this scene?

2. What is the scene’s primary conflict?

3. Objectives: What does my character want in this scene? What does my character want in the play overall?

4. Tactics: What is my character doing to get what he or she wants?

5. Obstacles: What or who is standing in the way of my character’s efforts to achieve his or her objective?

6. Stakes: What is at risk for my character? What is the best thing that could happen if my character achieves his or her objective? What is the worst thing that could happen if he or she fails?

7. What adjectives describe my character’s personality? Are there any contradictions?

8. What statements does my character make about him or herself? What do others say about my character?

9. Describe the status of each character in the scene. Does anyone have power over someone else?

PART II: Create a biographical sketch of your character by answering the following in first person from the character’s perspective: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Full name and date of birth.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

Do you have any siblings?

Describe your relationship with your parents.

How did your childhood influence who you are today?

When you were young, what were your dreams and aspirations? Have these dreams changed over time? If so, how and why?

7. Do you have any secrets? If so, what are they?

8. What is your best quality? What is your worst quality?

9. Describe your sense of humor.

10. Do you have any hobbies? If so, what are they? Why do you enjoy them?

11. List your favorites: Food, color, music, season.

PART III: Put the scene on its feet. How can you use stage pictures to communicate the story of the scene? Consider: 1.

2.

3.

4.

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Composition of the onstage images.

The rhythms of the actors’ movement around the stage.

The pacing of the dialogue.

How the actors’ body language and vocal expression reflects the information examined in Parts I and II.

Creature to Character When preparing to perform a role, actors sometimes will answer the question: If my character was an animal, what kind of animal would he or she be? The actor then uses that animal to inspire the physicality of their human character. In The Jungle Book, actors had the opposite challenge of trying to find the humanity in their animal roles. Reflect on the performances in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Jungle Book.

Did the actors seem more human or animal-like in their portrayals?

Ask students to choose an animal character from The Jungle Book to portray. They should choose one memorable line that the character speaks in the play.

1. Clear the classroom furniture to the sides and ask students to mill and seethe (move around the room in all directions), using movements that are as close to the animal’s real-life movements as possible. Add animal sounds. Encourage students to play and have fun with this! The sillier they are willing to be, the better!

2. As their animal, students should begin to mix their animal sounds with the line they chose for their character.

3. Students should repeat these lines over and over, but the teacher should cue them to shift the balance of animal to human movements—adding in more human movements but keeping a few elements from the animal. 100% animal, then 75% animal and 25% human, then 50-50, then only 25% animal and 75% human.

4. Everyone freeze. Popcorn around the room to have various students perform their lines with animal inspiration layered in.

5. REFLECT: When did you feel you had struck the most interesting balance between animal and human? What human characters are similar to the animal characters, in terms of status, profession, and relationships? What phrases or statements are associated with that human character?

6. Ask students to each choose a human character that is reminiscent of their chosen animal character from The Jungle Book. Reverse the process above, starting from human and adding in animal inspiration.

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