BBC Let it Shine’s Matt Knight announced as Akela in street dance version of
Jungle Book at The Lowry.
Matt Knight, known for his performance on BBC’s Let it Shine, will star as Akela in a new urban version of Jungle Book at The Lowry (Tue 29 Aug – Sat 2 Sept). Fans of the show will remember the 27 year old who performed ‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicii in his audition and later joined boyband Iron Sun.
The radical re-imagining of Kipling’s much loved classic Jungle Book will also star some of the UK’s leading dancers and circus performers when it comes to Salford later this summer. Starring alongside Matt Knight are aerial artist Alfa Marks (Mowgli), dancer and actor Ellen Wolf (Raksha), Kloé Dean(Bagheera/ Messua) who is founder of all-female Hip Hop dance company Myself, circus performer Nathalie Alison (Kaa/ Vee), dancer and choreographer Stefano Addae (Baloo / Buldeo) and Dancer Kaner Scott(Shere Khan).
Award-winning Metta Theatre’s new version of Jungle Book uses street dance, circus and spoken word. It is a contemporary urban jungle of skateboarding wolves, street dancing monkeys, a beat-loving bin man Baloo and graffiti artist Bagheera. With choreography from acclaimed hip hop artist Kendra J Horsburgh. Kipling for the 21st century – this production astonishes with its physical virtuosity and provokes with its politics.
Metta Theatre are known for their powerful visual storytelling and exploration of multicultural stories often from a female perspective. In Jungle Book we follow Mowgli on her search for identity and belonging – vulnerable, isolated and trying to find her place in an alien environment. The story transcends boundaries and resonates with audiences young and old, urban and rural.
Composer Filipe Gomes has created a beat-driven score using real world sounds of the city. Add to this designer William Reynolds’ trademark minimalism and an urban jungle is created – a stark forest of streetlamps disguising circus equipment on which these recognisably human animals cavort and contort themselves. The show uses street dance and circus to explore the search for identity and belonging in contemporary multicultural Britain.
Listings Information
Jungle Book
Dates: Tue 29 Aug – Sat 02 Aug
Times: 7pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm
Tickets: £20.50. Conc £4 off. Family ticket £68.
Age Guidance: 8+
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