STAGE REVIEW: The Jungle Book - at the Festival Theatre, Malvern, from Tuesday, March 13 to Saturday, March 17, 2018.

NOT until the curtain went up was it clear why there is such a shortage of ladders in the locality - masses of them must have been snapped up to make the jungle set in this gloriously upbeat and new take on the family classic.

Rudyard Kipling, who wrote his ever popular tale back in 1894 - or to be accurate, his two tales of jungle life, would surely approve of what writer Jessica Swale has done with those adventures of ‘the man-cub’.

She ensures nothing is lost in the jungle but don’t expect to dance to Disney’s original or join in the chorus.

It’s a different tune here with this emboldened re-working sending it successfully spiralling into the 21st century.

The set may have just ‘the bare necessities’ but the ladders, platforms and revolving stage make it all work and even Balloo’s melancholic rendition of ‘that’s why they call it the Balloos’ fails to put any dampener on Joe Stilgoe’s vibrant score.

The use of so many ladders can offer a couple of thoughts. Trees, vines and creepers in the heart of the jungle, but also possibly urban overtones created by man’s march into hitherto undeveloped areas.

This adaptation of the renowned classic is ambitious - but it is sparky, fresh and totally lively due considerably to a cast that has clearly bought into the visions of the creative team.

Another bold step was to divert down the road of a diversity narrative and also to have Mowgli, the man-cub, played by a young woman. Keziah Joseph, may be pint-sized but she packs a powerful voice and she was every inch the Mowgli we want.

Found as a baby in the jungle by kindly wolves Mowgli faces the wrath of evil Shere Khan, the Bengal tiger. He could have been the hors d’oeuvre for the striped one but is adopted by a bear and a panther which has our Balloo from Barry, a warm and humorous offering from Dyfrig Morris, enthusing they are ‘the perfect modern family’.

Together with Deborah Oyelade’s full-on feminist and fiercely protective Bagheera, they have to be ever watchful to ensure Lloyd Gorman’s amusing would-be Elvis approach in his spangly suit is not so much Shere Khan as Khan’t.

As for others in the cast the wolves are a great pack of musicians - swiftly swapping from four-legged on crutches to shaggy, shade-wearers with style, if not a hint of attitude. And there’s plenty of humour - particularly with the terrific troop of mischievous monkeys with behavioural problems - screeching, tormenting and offering each other a bogey or two! Urrgh!

Writer Swale says she jumped at the chance to adapt The Jungle Book.

“It’s such a vivid world - yet, for a writer, there's so much opportunity to imagine the jungle afresh.

"Part of the book's enduring appeal is that the jungle can be anything we choose. It's a playground, a school, a hideaway, an adventure, so I've enjoyed exploring what sort of place this mysterious, delightful, sometimes scary place might be.”

Exactly, and with this vibrant and visual interpretation it is clearly a theatre treat for young and old.