Brief Encounter with … The Jungle Book's Liam Steel

The Jungle Book swings into the West Yorkshire Playhouse this Christmas, transforming Rudyard Kipling‘s classic novel into a unique theatrical experience for the whole family. Ahead of opening night on 30 November, director and choreographer, Liam Steel, takes time out from rehearsals to discuss the specific challenges of bringing the jungle to life in Leeds, and returning to the stage following his work on the Oscar-winning film version of Les Misérables …

With opening night around three weeks way, how are things going?

It’s that horrible stage when you’re halfway through and you’re going "oh my God, we’ve got so much still to do!". With this show, almost more than any other I’ve done, there are so many components in terms of the music, the songs, the puppetry and the script. There are so many skill-based things people have to get into their bodies before you can start rehearsing scenes. We’ve also spent a lot of time rewriting the script. I’ve been getting about three hours sleep a night!

What are the particular challenges of the show?

For me, it’s as much about the pictures I’m making on stage, because that’s what we remember. You also have a responsibility with children as they learn through images. We should be able to tell that story with someone not understanding a word spoken on stage and they should still get everything from that story. That’s really important for me. In terms of the set, my research with designer, Laura Hopkins, involved a lot of adventure playgrounds, trapeze bars, parallel bars and ropes. I wanted a child to see it and think: "let me get on that!".

As a choreographer and director who likes to think visually, the movement element feeds into it quite strongly. An example is how the animals are achieved. That has to be the starting point. If it doesn’t work, the whole piece falls down. You have to believe the animals; they’re the heart of the piece. I don’t want actors running around on all-fours for two hours pretending to be a wolf or a tiger; especially because those animals have very strong human qualities.

But at the same time, I didn’t just want actors in costumes. So, for me, it was how to find the essence of the movement quality of that animal. For example, the wolves are all on blades; like the Paralympic blades. It gives them a slight spring in their step and their gait is much longer. You immediately change the quality of the movement for them. Bagheera is in shoes that have no heel, so the whole foot is changed. She looks incredibly statuesque. Baloo is on stilts. A 22-stone man on stilts! He’d never been on them before in his life as an actor.

How did you become involved with The Jungle Book?

[Playhouse artistic director] James Brining very generously asked me if there was anything I had in mind. I said I’d love to do the Christmas show because I have a real passion for making work for families and introducing children to theatre. There aren’t a lot of shows for the whole family. I stress that I am in no way making a children’s show; I’m making a show that any adult would buy a ticket for.

What attracted you to the story?

I read an old (stage) version and got really excited by the story. The Disney film is a sanitised version of the book. It only follows Mowgli in the jungle. Actually, a lot of the story takes place in the village. That’s a really important element of the story. For me, it’s that relevance now. The metaphors reverberate for a young person in today’s society in a multicultural city like Leeds, or where I live in Hackney.

At the end of the piece, he’s asking questions like: "where do I fit in the world?", "who am I?". We all ask questions about how we identify ourselves in this world; whether it’s race, religion, or sexuality. We all struggle with those images of ourselves in relationship to the rest of the world, and how the rest of the world perceives us. I would hate to be young now, growing up in a world where you’re getting a bombardment of definitions of who you are.

Alongside that, it’s about definitions of family. It raises massive questions about how we bring up children; whether it’s our own children, or children at large. We all have a responsibility in that. This child deals with death, being bullied and persecution; things that any child in their life could be facing. The way it’s done, through the child’s eyes, is like a safety net. Any child in the audience can deal with those things through that character. That’s what theatre should be. Theatre can do a lot more than just entertain.

Moving on to your work on the musical staging of Les Misérables, how did you find making the leap from theatre to working on a film of that scale and profile?

I relished the challenge. I was quite lucky as I’d done quite a few commercials over the years, so I knew my way around a set in terms of people’s jobs and making sure I knew where the camera was. The biggest challenge was the number of people. I’d be given 200 people and told: "this is the scene, off you go" and be left to it.

Initially that was quite daunting, but I was lucky because a few years ago I did a production of Ben Hur that had 300 performers. I also learnt a lot as I went along. We did a lot of big scenes right at the beginning, so it was absolutely being thrown in at the deep end. We also had six weeks rehearsal time, which is very rare on film. I think the thing in film is that people rely on each other. People are brilliant at what they do and you absolutely trust the other people.

To be able to work really fast is the biggest skill you need in terms of film. In theatre, you work towards the first night and then your hands are tied; you don’t do any more. With film, you do a take, and then you’ll redo the whole thing from another angle. It looks the same on film, but the audience has no idea you’ve completely changed that person’s perspective on something.

How did you feel when you saw the finished film?

Slightly in shock. What you shoot and what the film ends up being are very different. You think: "how can you have a close-up when there’s all that choreography going on!" For example, we spent two days shooting this beautiful, period dance. We did 40-odd takes and by the end, the dancers’ feet were bleeding. It was so much work. Not one moment of it is in the film! You sit there in the cinema going "no!", as much for all those people. That’s the hard thing. But you have to let go. By the time it’s gone into the editing suite, it’s out of your hands. It’s the director’s job to make the film he wants. Hopefully, there’ll be a choreographer’s cut one day!

Has the experience made you want to do more film?

I’ve been offered three films since that one, but circumstances haven’t allowed it to happen. Ideally it’s a balance, as one feeds into the other. My heart’s in theatre, however. It’s that immediacy. It’s riskier. There’s a safety net with film; whereas with theatre, you’re working towards first night where you have to let go. The response of the audience tells you whether you’ve got it right.

Having worked on so many theatre productions, as well as commercials, opera and now film, do you still have unfulfilled ambitions?

I like to be challenged and scared. As soon as I become comfortable then I like to pull the rug out. I feel I’m at a stage in my career where I’d like to do a new musical and direct and choreograph it. Not through any sense of megalomania, but I think in this country the roles are separate and doing both is not respected in the same way. If you look at America, the director-choreographer is an absolute skill.

It makes it holistic; you can look at the whole piece through one person’s eyes and the choreography becomes integral to the whole vision of the piece, as opposed to someone else being in charge of that. That’s what’s been lovely with The Jungle Book; working with the writer over the past year, as well as working with the musicians and composer to create a very specific musical style.

So, finally, what can Leeds’ audiences expect when they come to see The Jungle Book?

They will get to see theatre with a capital ‘T’. It’s a complete piece where everything has been integrated: puppetry, lighting, sound, music, costumes. All the elements come together a produce a theatrical experience with a beautiful story at the heart that also makes you think. It has clear relevance to the world in which we live in, and is for the whole family. What The Jungle Book is ultimately about is life: its complications and messiness.

The Jungle Book is on at the West Yorkshire Playhouse between 30 November 2013 and 18 January 2014. For tickets, contact the box office on 0113 213 7700, or visit www.wyp.org.uk.