By The Book

If you attend ONSTAGE in Bedford's production of The Jungle Book, be sure that your expectations are tempered. This interpretation of Rudyard Kipling's classic short stories does not stretch so far as to include bebop-loving bears and orangutans—no "Bear Necessities," man. And for Pete's sake, the characters do not become aviation experts and battle air pirates for control of precious cargo—this is not TailSpin, the weekly syndicated Jungle Book spin-off made by Disney in the '90s. (What children's theater has the budget for animatronic bears in planes, anyway?) This version may be cute enough to entice the kids, but its allegiance to the original story—and parallel scenes that depict Kipling's youth as well—are a little more, we should say, grounded. Show times are 7 p.m. Fridays and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturdays through July 15 at Trinity Arts Theater, 2819 Forest Ridge Drive in Bedford. Tickets are $6. Call 817-354-6444 or visit ONSTAGEinBedford.org.
Fridays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 1 & 4 p.m. Starts: July 7. Continues through July 15