“We are now living in unprecedented and uncertain times, not only for our species but for all species on this planet. And the root cause of this conundrum is because we have forgotten our connection to our home, our planet. We all inhabit it, we all take from it, and we all build on it, but we have forgotten to return our respect for it.” – Akram Khan

Akram Khan’s Jungle Book reimagined is a new work based on the much-loved story by Rudyard Kipling. With a new sense of urgency, Akram has reinterpreted this known story from another perspective, through the lens of today’s children – those who will inherit our world and become our future storytellers.

Embedded in the roots of Jungle Book is the deep threat that mankind poses towards nature. Akram and his team have reimagined the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a refugee caught in a world devastated by the impact of climate change. They tell the story of a child who will help us to listen again, not to our voices but to the voices of the natural world that we, the modern world, try to silence. Jungle Book reimagined speaks to all generations as a step to remind, to relearn and to reimagine a new world together.

A stellar creative has worked on the reimagining, with a script written by Tariq Jordan, dramaturgy by Sharon Clark, to an original score by Jocelyn Pook. Sound design comes from Gareth Fry, lighting by Michael Hulls, visual stage design by Miriam Buether, video design and animation by YeastCulture, the visual technology turns the stage into a magical world that dives into the myths of today.

Jungle Book reimagined is performed by ten dancers: Maya Balam Meyong, Tom Davis-Dunn, Harry Theadora Foster, Filippo Franzese, Bianca Mikahil, Jasper Narvaez, Max Revell, Matthew Sandiford, Pui Yung Shum, Elpida Skourou, Holly Vallis, Jan Mikaela Villanueva, and Luke Watson.

The Tempest is a play we know well – but in working together with a small group of actors in February at the Bouffes du Nord we rediscovered how this play contains so many rich levels of hidden meanings – it is Shakespeare’s last play – and resonates so deeply through all his plays. We are going to rework on what we searched and shared with an audience in the Bouffes du Nord in 3 very intense evenings – we’ll search again together. The boat is waiting for us! Peter Brook

Tempest Project by Peter Brook

A play stemming from a research on The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Adaptation and stage direction Peter Brook  Marie-Hélène Estienne
Lighting Philippe Vialatte
Songs Harué Momoyama
With
Sylvain Levitte
Paula Luna Fabio Maniglio
Luca Maniglio
Marilù Marini
Ery Nzaramba
Duration : 1h15.
Production:
Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord Paris, Attiki Cultural Society, Athens
Coproduction Théâtre Gérard Philipe, centre dramatique national de Saint-Denis ; Scène nationale Carré-Colonnes Bordeaux Métropole ; Le Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Scène Nationale ; Le Carreau - Scène nationale de Forbach et de l’Est mosellan ; Teatro Stabile del Veneto ;Cercle des partenaires des Bouffes du Nord.
The text "Tempest project", adapted by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne from Jean-Claude Carrière's French version of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, was published in November 2020 by Actes Sud-Papiers.