With the very kind help of a stenographer borrowed from the House of Lords we began our very
illegal adaptation of the Walt Disney classic cartoon Jungle Book. Gravity-defying cartoon
characters came to life and at least one, Dumo Sibisi, as Raa the snake, continued, or so it appeared,
to defy gravity.
Rehearsals were quite remarkably trouble free, Belmont actors showing a not altogether surprising
affinity with their jungle characters!
The very imaginative costumes were constructed by Val Vaughan- Williams and Margaret McGaun
and so we weren't at all surprised when Tom Urquhart, as Bagherra the Panther, appeared in tight
black crushed velvet with a prehensile tail of devastating proportions. Tom was even sleeker than
the very sleek panther of the film. A more elegant and English feline would be hard to imagine.
A perfect contrast to him was his side-kick, Baloo the Bear, played by James Duffield as a mixture
of your favourite and most irresistable teddy-bear and a crazed 50's rock and roll freak. Hardly the
best teacher for an impressionable young Mowgli, played with extraordinary athleticism by Stephen
Gill. He broke the hearts of all the mothers in the audience and came close to breaking several
bones with his singing-all dancing-high jumping performance.
The scenes involving Mowgli and Raa, a Trinidadian snake, were hilarious. Dumo Sibisi was
horribly repetitive but his hypnotic West Indian drawl endeared him to the audience as the 'coolest'
Raa ever.
In Act II we were serenaded by a very zany quartet of Bored Brumie Vultures led by Ali Upham.
They didn't actually fly but came very close to it, especially when chased by the nasty tiger, the
evil Shere Khan, played with surprising ease by an established Belmont actor, Ben Babington. The
evil of Shere Khan was tempered by Ben who sported a cigarette holder and white tie and tails.
The House was brought down, 'almost literally' by the entrance of the 1st XV as a group of 'out of
tune' but very 'in step' military elephants, led by their dotty old Colonel Harty (Sean Collins).
A verdant set designed by Sandy Elliott was beautifully lit by Bill Anderson. The army of nocturnal
stage hands was led by William Milling, keeping up all the very best traditions of the Belmont
theatre.
Jungle Book was the twelfth play that I have produced at Belmont and I have very happy memories
of them all, of the frantic rehearsals, the splendid performances and the mad cast parties. But most
of all I will remember the marvellous spirit of friendship and fun which made our plays and musicals
so successful and will ensure that they have a lasting place in the hearts and memories of all the
actors, stage hands, lighting crews and staff who took part in them.

Dom Antony