A joyful family show based on Rudyard Kipling's classic short stories, coming to the beautiful village of Mathry, between St Davids and Fishguard, for seven nights only this August.
There’s a bad tempered Rhinoceros and a very independent Cat (but is he cleverer than the Woman?) Meet the Elephant’s Child as he finds out what the crocodile has for dinner. Help the Mariner escape from the Whale! All this and more in our lively retelling of Kipling’s ‘Just So Stories’. Everyone knows the Jungle Book, but this production of his other tales is full of his humour, poetry and lots of songs. Two visiting storytellers arrive, and the rest are so excited they can’t wait to join in, interrupt, and get you involved too! Turn up at our theatre base at Mathry Community Hall, and you can be part of spells, rescues, and even light your way home.
Kipling began working on the book by telling the first three chapters as bedtime stories to his daughter Josephine. These had to be told "just so" (exactly in the words she was used to) or she would complain. They are gloriously fanciful tales of how things in the world came to be as they are . For the original publication of the book, Kipling illustrated the stories himself.
A few miles from St David’s on the Fishguard Rd, Mathry is the village you can see on the hill. Their busy community hall is home to the Festival actors and crew for just over three weeks, and very grateful we are for their friendly welcome. We enjoy working on the stage with its easy contact between us and audience. We also love the village and, being mostly city dwellers, the walks and stars. Living in tents, we hope that rain won’t spoil your holiday either.
This is a company play, and at Festival everyone shares the work. You may see actors you saw last night running the Box Office outside City Hall in St Davids, or on the beach. You won’t see the sharing of the washing up or late night conversations, but they all make up the fabric of Festival and join the company together.