DUMMERSTON — The recent Just So Stories event at Naulakha, Rudyard Kipling's home, was a phenomenal success, more so than any prior year. This event has been offered to area elementary schools for the past 15 years and at the conclusion of the week set aside for the kids, an evening is planned for 25-30 adults. Generally it sells out, but not always.
Jackson Gillman does an outstanding job of portraying Rudyard Kipling and an even more superlative job portraying the elephant in “How the Elephant Got Its Trunk.”
Perhaps the most important consequence of this event is that the teachers look forward to prepping their students to create their own Just So Story once they return to school. Their stories fill our Just So Stories notebook, which is pure delight to read.
During the four-day event this year, the house welcomed more than 300 local students, each of whom heard the stories and then went back to their schools to begin writing their own tales.
Because the story was so well done, we were overwhelmed by requests for the evening performance and had to add a second night - something we have never had to do! In the end, we hosted 60 adults.
The Commons is the primary reason this event was so successful, and why these adults have now visited Naulakha for the first time. If you missed the event, you can always request a tour, or simply arrange to rent the facility and share the experience with family or friends.