How did the leopard get his spots? How did the elephant get his trunk? How did the rhino get his baggy skin? How did the kangaroo get his bounce? All these questions, and more, are answered by the musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s immortal classic, The Just So Stories.

‘Just So’ by Stiles and Drewe, will be performed by Exit Stage Left Youth at Writhlington School’s Dragonfly Theatre next week. They are delighted to return to the Dragonfly Theatre after their smash hit production of ‘13: The Musical’. This was performed after a three year hiatus, due to the rising costs of putting on a production. It was hugely successful and gained four Somerset Fellowship of Drama David Beach Awards for Best Musical, Best Youth Chorus, Best Youth Male, Oliver Swales, and Best Youth Female, Nicole Welling.

The Just So Stories were written by Rudyard Kipling in 1902, and are gloriously fanciful tales of how things in the world came to be as they are. A century later, Stiles and Drewe (‘Honk!’, ‘Betty Blue Eyes’, ‘Mary Poppins on stage’, ‘Soho Cinders’ etc.,) have taken a selection of these timeless tales and adapted them for stage to create a fun-filled, live action, family musical experience that will appeal to children and adults alike.

‘Just So’ follows the adventures of The Elephant’s Child, who is always asking questions, and the Kolokolo Bird, who has all the answers, as they travel to the banks of the Limpopo River in search of the giant crab, Pau Amma, who plays with the sea and floods the land, endangering all the animals of the world. Along the way, they discover how the kangaroo got his bounce, how the rhinoceros got his baggy skin, how the leopard got his spots, as well as discovering what makes them unique from all the others, and proving that one determined individual can make a real difference in this world.