Mowgli takes children on jungle safari

Adaptation of Rudyard Kipling play kicks off at NAPA

KARACHI: The weeks following the Muharram break are going to be busy for the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa). With the Young Directors Festival scheduled for the second half of November, the academy has decided to treat younger audiences to a musical, Mowgli’s Jungle, before the main event kicks off.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Napa Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Zain Ahmed said the play, which is an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling collection of stories titled The Jungle Book, is expected to run from October 26 onwards.

Written and directed by Michael Meinsopust, the performance is being choreographed by Anne-Kathrin Klatt. According to Ahmed, “Both the director and choreographer have been invited by the Goethe Institute to travel to Pakistan and work with NRT to piece together this exciting new play for children.”

The monstrous vermin within

The musical that is being staged for schoolchildren primarily will have an initial run of eight shows from October 26 to November 3 —  with only the weekend shows open for general public. Explaining the reason behind reserving shows for schoolchildren, Ahmed said, “These shows are part of efforts being made by Napa and Goethe Institute to inculcate a theatre-going culture amongst younger audiences and maximise its outreach.”

This is not the first time Napa is organising a play for children as the institution has staged two notable performances for younger audiences earlier in the year, titled Choti, Moti, Tota aur SM Hamid and an adaptation of the fantasy classic Aladin.

In an earlier interview with The Express Tribune, Ahmed had stressed upon the importance of performing arts for the younger lot, stating, “Children today have no concept of live entertainment. There are no puppet shows or music shows happening in the country. The only source of entertainment they have are these foreign cartoons on TV. There is no local content available for their indulgence.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2015.

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