Four of Rudyard Kipling’s magical stories are bravely re-told by the Newbury Youth Theatre using mime, music and inventive choreography to present these wonderfully evocative fables in new and sometimes unexpected ways.

The stories are not announced but run together as a single meandering dream sequence held together and occasionally punctuated by skillful use of music. The stage is set in a child's bedroom where the 'best beloved' daughter reads her daddy’s letters as bedtime stories. As she falls asleep, fantastic notions from the page take to the stage in the form of dreams that then enact the daft and delightful fantasies for which Kipling is renowned.

The opening scene gradually establishes itself as the cast work closely together to create the illusion of the whale who has swallows the mariner in the story of How the Whale got his Throat. This is followed by How the Camel got his Hump, which features a wonderful song to Kipling's not so nonsensical rhyme about getting the humph 'if you haven't enough to do' and the strange tale of The Crab that played with the Sea is vividly enhanced by the way the cast collectively mime the ebb and flow of the tides. The last tale is The Elephant’s Child (or how the elephant got his trunk). This, like the other Just So Stories, is a creation myth providing a curious parable on the theme of obstinacy, disobedience and, of course, 'satiable curiosity. The Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake is an unexpected source of help, while in this version the Crocodile is transformed into a devouring temptress on the pull. Is this something to do with preoccupations of the youthful cast, or were these associations always there to be drawn out by those with the 'infinite-resource-and-sagacity' to find them?

There were times when it seemed as though the creative energy of the cast was barely contained by Kipling's extraordinary text and bubbled over to fill the start of The Elephant’s Child with a delightful invented scene of The Elephant’s Child’s aunts having a drink together. The opportunity to poke fun at the foolishness of adults was clearly as exhilarating for the cast as it was liberating for The Elephant's Child to spank the relatives who had spanked him.

The confidence and coordination of this youthful cast was impressive, for although there is plenty of individual talent, the star of the show is always the total performance and how well they are able to hold it together. All the animals play their part even, and especially, when they don't, or wont, just so that the story is told. Lots of fun and food for thought, even for grown-ups, if there are any.

Simon Jackson