MTI Shows In Literature: JUST SO
MTI Shows In Literature: JUST SO
By EllaRose Chary on October 05, 2011

JUST SO is inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. With music by George Stiles and book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe (a team best known for HONK!, another story great for young audiences with a cast of engaging anthropomorphic animals), JUST SO was originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh. Kipling’s original work is a collection of fables telling fantastical origin stories for a variety of creatures and the world. Many of the stories focus on how certain animals got their signature traits, from “How the Leopard Got His Spots” to “How the Camel Got His Hump.” In Stiles’ and Drewe’s musical adaptation, the short stories come together to form one full-length piece incorporating the elements of Kipling’s original along the way. The Eldest Magician enters a blank stage and begins a tale about the animals he created and how they all looked the same. All of the animals got along, except for the giant crab, Pau Amma, whose lifestyle wreaked havoc on the other creatures. Aided in part by the Eldest Magician and the Kolokolo Bird, The Elephant’s Child goes on a daring journey to stop Pau Amma from flooding the other creatures out. On the way, the Child learns about courage, individuality, and friendship – and the audience learns how every creature came to be “just so.”
Most of the pieces featured in the MTI Shows In Literature series are adapted from or inspired by full-length works. In those cases, the task of the authors is to find a fresh approach for an existing story, and make it work on stage. In the case of JUST SO, however, the authors had to do something else entirely – they had to create an overarching plot and continuing characters that would allow them to tell one story that incorporated the elements and spirit of the original work. By making The Elephant's Child the main character for the whole piece, rather than just one of many in the short stories, the authors were able to transform Kipling’s themes and ideas into a single narrative that feels fresh and new, though the source material is over 100 years old!

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