Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” will come to life this weekend at Pleasant Valley High School.

Under the direction of Dan and Marcie Mulligan, with production assistance by Donna Morris, the Pleasant Valley High School Drama Club’s cast of 24 student actors will perform the 1894 tale at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday in the high school auditorium.

Unlike the musically-infused version created by Disney in the 1970s, this version is an adaptation written by playwright Joseph Robinette.

“It’s definitely more of a narrative, rather than a musical,” said high school senior Aidan Sawyer, who portrays the tiger Shere Khan whose goal is to devour boy cub Mowgli. “It focuses more on the author’s life and what inspired him to write the books. It’s a unique take on the original story.”

The original classic “The Jungle Book” is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling. In it, jungle animals from central India have human personalities - in particular those of his classmates in boarding school in England.

In this adaptation, a young Rudyard, played by PVHS senior James Mauro, writes the story as part of a school writing competition in his English class. His teacher, Madame Crofts, is portrayed by Dylan Carroll.

In the tale, a young Indian boy named Mowgli, played by Isaac Mitchell, is found by a pack wolves alone in the jungle. The wolves decide to raise him as one of their own.

Akela, the alpha wolf, played by Julian Dempster, and Mother Wolf, played by Megan O’Brien, adopt him and teach him the ways of a wolf. Mowgli’s friends, Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther, teach him how to survive in the jungle, especially because his life is at risk. Sawyer’s Shere Khan and his sidekick Tabaqui the Jackal, played by Sarah Larregui, are looking for Mowgli.

Sawyer said he is enjoying his character, because he is so different from himself.

“I get to be mean. I’m usually not very mean,” Sawyer said. “It’s fun. I growl and get to be the bad guy.”

As the play continues in England, Rudyard finds himself facing adversity while writing the story because of difficult classmates: Fielding, played by Omar Martinez, and Hanley, played by Autumn Cline.

Meanwhile, headmaster Price (Sylvia Calhoun) and Chaplain Willies (Takenouri Yogui) see his potential and encourage him to continue writing the story.

Mauro, who plays the part of Kipling, said he likes his character, who is creative but “doesn’t really defend himself that well,” he said.

Toward the end of the play, Kipling gets his redemption when he wins an award for his stories. The award gives him the confidence he had been lacking, Mauro said.

In the cast of animals, Baloo the bear is played by Owen Gordon, and Bagheera the panther is played by Jeneria Williams. Kaa the python is played by Max Sullivan, Hathi the elephant is Lydia Peters, and Rann the kite bird is Audrey McElwee. The cast is rounded out by an ensemble of wolves and monkeys played by Alayna Boyland, Elila Ramirez, Avinny Ackerly, Dylan Carroll, Chloe Gutai, Sophia Dobson, Angela Hetrick, Sam Lowell and Maria Cuautla.

“We worked really hard on it,” Sawyer said about the play. “We have quite a bit of talent here, and I feel it’s going to be a good show.”

“There’s characters that you can relate to,” Mauro added.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $6 adults and $5 students.