Everyone’s favorite foot-stomping childhood adventure reclaimed, reimagined, and rewritten for our times is coming to Houston’s GSH Event Center for a limited engagement on October 8th and 9th, as part of Enacte Arts’ national tour of the family musical. Children under the age of 12 can attend any of the performances for FREE!
Vinita Sud Belani, bringing these established collaborators on board through the theater company she has created and nourished into the force it is today, directs the piece with the conviction that there is power, importance and necessity in reclaiming South Asian stories and retelling them for a global audience. Using her tech background and her skills as a collaborator, she is creating a visual world that is dynamic and modern, while still rooted in ancient art practices. Belani has lived and worked in 9 countries across 4 continents and is committed to using stories to create community and connect diverse peoples.
A highly diverse cast
A jungle is an incredible representation of how a truly diverse ecosystem enriches itself and leads to growth and abundance. This show reflects a similar ecosystem.
EnActe Arts is a highly diverse company with a specific vision – bringing South Asian stories into a global context. In order to do so, the storytellers involved need to represent the globe. The cast of The Jungle Book: Rudyard Revised embodies diversity in the truest sense of the word – each person comes from a myriad of intersectionalities – of race, gender, age, experience..the list goes on and the EnActe rehearsal room makes space for all of it.
EnActe has also committed to discussing inclusion and diversity as a cast and creative team – the process for writing The Jungle Book: Rudyard Revised was based in deep inquiry into current issues surrounding diversity and EDIA awareness, and as a result the script reflects those questions and work. As the actors embody the language generated in that process, they are having similar conversations. Audiences should be able to see themselves in this show, and leave feeling empowered to reclaim parts of their identity that might otherwise be stifled.
In collaboration with The Centre for Wildlife Studies Kalaripayattu-infused choreography by Navarasa Dance Theater Music by renowned Jazz and Indian Classical musician George Brooks Directed by EnActe Artistic Director, Vinita Sud Belani. Tickets now available at www.enacte.org/the-jungle-book
