Show: Just So
Society: Sedos
Venue: Bridewell Theatre
Credits: Music by George Stiles | Lyrics by Anthony Drewe | Inspired by the stories of Rudyard Kipling
Type: Sardines
Author: Ned Hopkins
Performance Date: 05/03/2024
Just So
Ned Hopkins | 28 Mar 2024 23:20pm
Photo: Michael Smith
The Just So Stories started off as bedtime stories told by Kipling to his beloved young daughter to help her get to sleep. They had to be re-told ‘just so’ with no alterations or Effie would correct them and were first published in a children’s magazine in 1902 – a year before her tragic death, aged six, of pneumonia.
The original incarnation of the musical was presented in 1984 at the enterprising Watermill Theatre in Berkshire directed by Julia McKenzie. With subsequent productions in various other prestigious theatres in the UK and USA of, seemingly, a work still in progress, a highly successful and ‘definitive’ version finally appeared at Chichester in 2005. Sadly, it has only been produced professionally once in London: at the Tricycle Theatre, over thirty years ago. The charm of this delightful revival by Sedos begs the question – why?
Integrating several of Rudyard Kipling’s stories, the show tells how the god-like Eldest Magician (played here with presence and with a fabulous singing voice by Joe McWilliam) sends the animals, who at this point all look the same, out into the world to discover themselves and acquire individual identities.
The first to go on the journey are the naïve but brave Elephant’s Child (a lankily endearing Dyan Evans) and, to complement him, the cynical but more hardheaded Kolokolo Bird (another secure and winning performance by Kate Gledhill) who, nonetheless, is scared of flying. The stumbling block to the mission is Pau Amma the giant Crab (voiced in his best ‘baddie’ voice by Brian Blessed) who is causing terrible floods which put the other animals in danger. In order to negotiate with him, the pair have to find the ‘great grey-green, greasy’ Limpopo River that leads to the sea.
Suffice to say, the absurd story which includes a sort-of sub-plot concerning the Parsee Man and his Stove (Freddie Tibbs and Tom Outhwaite) who love cooking but can’t because there is no food, and a hungry, troublesome Welsh Rhino (Will Hunkin) is mainly an excuse for over twenty musical numbers (beautifully staged by Sam Fergusson) from the pens of the, then, young Stiles and Drewe. They would, of course, go on to write Betty Blue Eyes, Honk and Soho Cinders and songs for the scores of the stage version of Mary Poppins and the reworked Half a Sixpence.
Whilst there are some important philosophical points to be found lurking between the book’s clichés such as: ‘does anyone ever really grow up?’ and the oft-repeated ‘sometimes the thing you’re looking for is right under your nose’, I chose not to get too bogged down in the book’s bizarre plotting. I simply let myself be carried away by the chirpy score (exemplarily handled by the Adrian Hau and his musicians) and the sheer theatrical magic of Glen Jordan’s production.
I never fail to note the strong ensemble work of Sedos’ shows and this is no exception. There isn’t a single weak link in the cast. Other principal roles include the warm and likeable Giraffe and Zebra (Ellie McWilliam and Eleanor Leaper) who are pursued as potential meals by the charmingly dangerous Jaguar (Thomas Riggs) and Leopard (James Davies); a hyper-active Kangaroo (Jac Norris) and a Dingo Dog (Heather Daniel).
The production is also blessed with some simple but clever design work. The way the animals acquire their ‘spots’ or ‘stripes’ etc with just the right shirt, dress or pair of boots is, pun intended, spot on (Costume Design: Geri Hutyan). A nice touch is the Elephant’s Child’s grey tie which lengthens when he matures. There is also an imaginative set involving large packing cases and palm trees put together with umbrellas and twinkling lit trunks (Set Design: Dan Saunders) and an atmospheric lighting design by Tash Boret.
Whilst some critics delight in subtracting stars for their personal reservations with ‘books’, I prefer to concentrate on the quality of, in this case, a highly inventive, charming and polished revival of an unusual British musical.