Actors transform into “jungle book” animals

“The Jungle Book” cast at Mt. Hood is getting excited for their upcoming November performances in this year’s Children’s Theatre production: They’re constantly being challenged and working to better their physicality and choice-making before the shows begin.

In the play, almost everyone is acting as an animal, a type of character that most cast members didn’t have previous experience playing.

Megan Worden, a woodpecker and puppeteer in the production, said, “Up until this point, most of my shows were being a human or being something human-like.” She has been involved in theatre since the age of 13, and this production is pushing her to grow in her acting as a whole.

“It requires you to make big choices which is always something I get (as) feedback, saying, ‘You need to make bigger choices,’ and so this has been a challenge, to say the least,” Worden said.

Theatre major Christopher Wolfe is playing Akela the wolf, as well as a monkey. He’s been in a handful of Mt. Hood productions and was in theatre for the majority of high school. He said that before this play, he had trouble with his physicality, and was stiff a lot of the time. “[This play] helped a lot because it forces you to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to being physical, like being the monkeys in the play,” he said. “You kind of get to a vulnerable spot, but it’s also very fulfilling once you get to that place because you can literally just go nuts and people enjoy it.”

Students were given a homework assignment to watch videos of the animals they would be playing.

“We’re trying to get as much physically into the animal as we are vocally,” Wolfe said. Playing a wolf, he noticed that the animal typically has a lot of shoulder movement when walking, so he’s working to incorporate that as he walks closely to the ground to portray Akela.

As for acting as a monkey, he said, “Your arms are going everywhere, you’re slapping them against stuff, you’re banging the ground, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Behind the scenes, the set designers and tech crew are well on their way to getting everything ready to set the stage. This time around, they’re using backdrops as opposed to painting the jungle background on wood, and painter Tiffany “TJ” Purvis has enjoyed the new technique. There’s a lot that goes into making everything look how, and function how, it should, she said.

“It’s a lot of hard work. It takes more than just two or three people to do it,” Purvis said. She has always loved performing, and began acting in, and designing sets for, Mt. Hood plays last year. She’s playing a young elephant in “The Jungle Book” and said, “I’m a lot more confident than I was last year.”

So, with opening day approaching – Nov. 6 – what’s everyone most excited for?

Purvis said, “The kids. It’s always fun with children’s plays because we interact with them a lot.” That was the unanimous answer from her, Worden, and Wolfe.

It’s a different, unpredictable crowd each day, and the cast of “The Jungle Book” is eager to see if they’ve put together a show that will hold the young audience’s attention.

“If a kid doesn’t like it, then they’ll pick their nose, they’ll play with the seats, they’ll talk to their friends – they’re going to do anything but watch what you’re doing,” Wolfe said.