Just So

Synopsis

Set at the beginning of time, along Africa’s Limpopo River, the Eldest Magician created a world full of beasts, birds and fish. Everything was just so, until Pau Amma the Crab began playing with the ocean, causing a flood that threatened the other animals. To stop the crab, the Elephant’s Child must embark on a quest down the Limpopo River. With the help of the Kolokolo Bird they discover a world of weird and wonderful creatures and learn how the leopard got his spots, how the rhinoceros got his skin, and how curiosity and a hungry crocodile can turn an elephant’s small nose into a very large trunk.

Our Review:

6 December 2010

Just So is a musical by George Stiles and Anthony Drew, based on Rudyard Kipling’s fantastical creation myths. It follows the Elephant’s Child and the Kolokolo Bird as they voyage across Africa to the great, green, greasy Limpopo River to stop The Crab That Played With The Sea from wreaking havoc with the tides. Along the way they meet a host of other animals and discover how they came to be as they are.

All the African animals have broad, British regional accents, which produce a few laughs but certainly removes the exoticism and mystery from Kipling’s stories. However, Lisa Baird’s tough Scottish Kolokolo Bird is a nice foil for Lee Greenaway’s inquisitive, northern Elephant’s Child.

Designer [Christopher Hone’]s set makes for some interesting, split level staging and choreographer Phyllida Crowley-Smith uses the small space well. "Living on This Island", performed by The Parsee Man (played wi...

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Latest User Review

Gareth James - 6 January 2011:

I think this was Stiles & Drew’s first show. It’s first production at the Tricycle Theatre, twenty years ago, was directed by Mike Ockrent no less and Cameron Macintosh was its godfather. I loved it, and amongst my fond memories is the appearance of a young Clive Rowe who’d impressed me in the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s end-of-year musical Girl Crazy – it may even have been his professional debut. It still strikes me as an impressive debut musical, with catchy tunes from Stiles and witty lyrics from Drew. Based on Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories, it’s more about the characterisation of the animals than it is about the simple story. In this production, it is mostly well sung, though the small band feels as if it’s in the room next door – well, it almost is, sitting behind a screen on a ‘shelf’ to the left of the stage. The performances too are mostly good – particularly by the three leads. Lee Greenaway is cute and charming as Elephant’s Child, Ian Knauer an authoritative presence as The Eldest Magician and I loved Lisa Baird’s feisty Glaswegian Kolokolo Bird. The Tabard is a small stage for 11 actors; unfortunately designer Christopher Hone has made it even more difficult for them by over-designing a two-tier set which restricts movement and adds little. In addition, the costumes, though clever, fail to create the magical animal world. So, a good show well performed but let down by the design and staging I’m afraid…..but worth a second look twenty years on....

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