About the play
The Jungle Book is one of the most popular children's books and won Indian-born writer Rudyard Kipling the Nobel Prize and many other awards in the UK. Whether human or animal, all the characters in Kipling's Jungle have one thing in common - they are not afraid of the unknown and are willing to learn. The main character, a boy called Mavgli, grows up in the jungle with wolves until the day he is threatened by Shir Khan, a vengeful tiger who thinks he owns Mavgli. The wolf pack decides that the boy must go. He is taken in and cared for by Balu, a clumsy bear, and Baghira, a quick and caring panther. Mavgli enters the adventure of the laws of the jungle. Mavgli is a skilful, thoughtful, fair and bright boy. Baghira is a clever and brave panther, Balu is a big and sleepy brown bear, and Shir Khan the tiger is a crippled and arrogant bully, a destroyer who wants to strike fear into the bones of the other jungle dwellers with his terrible roar. In the jungle, Mavgli finds both his best friends and his greatest enemy. Growing up in a wolf pack, he learns the laws of the jungle in the company of his wolf brothers, panthers, giant snakes, bears, elephants, birds and monkeys, without losing his humanity. When the tiger Shir Khan takes over the wolf pack, Mavgli decides to return to the pack, confront the tiger and restore peace to the jungle. This is a story of friendship, solidarity, acceptance of diversity and individual sacrifice for the good of the community. When Mavgli realises that because he is different, the animals are afraid of him, he decides to return to the people to avoid further upsetting the balance of the jungle. He swears to himself that he will never behave towards animals the way humans have behaved towards them throughout history and that he will never forget what the jungle has taught him and how it has welcomed him.
Ivor Martinić was born in 1984 in Split. He graduated in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Since 2005 he has been working as a dramaturge in numerous theatre productions in Croatia and abroad. He is a frequent collaborator with Croatian Radio, where all his plays are performed in the drama programme. He writes plays, radio dramas and scripts. He has received numerous awards for his plays. His plays have been translated into thirty languages and performed in twenty countries around the world. He is one of the founders and editors of the Croatian drama portal Drame.hr. He is a member of HZSU and SPID.
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English novelist and poet, widely known for The Jungle Book and the novel Kim, as well as for his many poems. Kipling was born in Bombay in 1865. He began writing his first stories at a young age. In 1891 he published his first novel, The Light That Failed, and three years after that he produced the wonderful children's novels The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book. Rudyard Kipling made an important contribution to the development of literature. His works are still widely known today. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature and was also the first English writer to receive this honour.
Robert Waltl (1965), actor, director, puppeteer. Director of Mini teater Ljubljana and the Jewish Cultural Centre in Ljubljana, founder of the Liberal Jewish Community of Ljubljana and civil rights activist. Since 1987 he has created numerous acting roles in Slovenian and Croatian theatres and films. Since 1999 he has also established himself as a director. His plays have been performed on tour and at numerous international festivals. He has created a large number of acting roles for radio plays. After extensive experience in institutional theatre, Robert Waltl left the security of official institutions. In 1998, with his own financial resources, he founded a new Slovenian theatre - Mini teater. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and prizes.
Robert Smolík (1977) studied scenography at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theater at Prague Theater academy, where he has been teaching since 2004, and from 2011 to 2018 he was the head of the scenography cabinet. Since 2020, together with Denisa Václavová, he has been running his master's studio of sustainable theater at KALD. In addition to scenography, he creates puppets and mechanical objects. As a set designer, he collaborates with professional puppet theaters such as Minor, Naive Theater Liberec and others. Between 2005 and 2018, his "theatrical" work focused on collaboration with the Buchty a loutky group and mainly on research and development in the Handa Gote group. He is currently working in the group Škrobotník, Šlundra and Šibrová. He also works as an artist and activist in his hometown of Jičín. He is a member of O.S. Loggia, z.s. and Balbineum, z.s. in which he participates in the revitalization of Baroque monuments in Jičín. Together with his wife Radka Mizerová, they created a place for cultural events and meetings "Zahrada pod Koštofránkem" from their own garden in the city center.
Goran Bojčevski is a clarinettist and composer. He completed his master's studies with the highest degree at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Critics rank him among the best clarinettists in the world. He is the founder of his own Balkan Nuevo style, which shows his exceptional sense of composition. He has written many pieces, suites, including two ballets. His second ballet, Dervish and Death, was performed twenty-three times in one season in Croatia and abroad, and filled the Lisinski Hall in Zagreb. His works have been performed on every continent of the world.
Thomas Claude Kombia is a choreographer and dancer from Burkina Faso. He works mainly in the field of teaching traditional African dances to young people. He is also interested in dance theatre, where he creates his own works. He has learnt from and collaborated with various renowned choreographers. In 2022 he came to Slovenia, where he wants to spread the knowledge of African culture through dance and bring it closer to the Slovenian audience.
From the reviews
"The puppets' art is outstanding and gives a fresh, new perspective on protagonists who are already ingrained in our consciousness thanks to the many book and film adaptations. The added value are also the songs, created by composer Goran Bojčevski and sung with passion by Timotej Novaković, Diana Kolenc, Gaja Filač, Borut Doljšak and Vid Klemenc. The commitment of the actors is undoubtedly commendable. They were directed by Robert Waltl, the dramatisation is the work of Croatian playwright Ivor Martinić. This is a fresh puppet rendition of a well-known classic that is sure to impress." Ana Rozman, Radio Prvi - RTV Slovenia
