The Jungle Book, set on a council estate with hip hop dancing and circus acts, may sound like an unlikely staging of Rudyard Kipling's classic novel, but for Poppy Burton Morgan is was an obvious update.

The Oxford educated performer has adapted the famous children’s story for the stage, sticking very closely to the original script, but making it relevant to a mixed race urban Britain.

“We chose an urban jungle rather than a literal one, so this is set among the street lamps and concrete of an inner city, so it’s very visual and physical," she explains.

It also casts Mowgli as a girl, Bagheera as a graffiti artist and the wolves as a skate boarding crew, as girls, so has a strong female identity. Shere Khan is a gangster and Baloo a beat-boxing bin man.

"This is not a play for young children," Poppy advises, "we would suggest it's more appropriate for the 8+ age group. But it is very stimulating, complex and visual, with backflips,” she laughs.

So what was her inspiration? “I wanted it to be relevant, to resonate and be contemporary so that it reached a broader audience, to make it more diverse, which has been challenging. Mowglie has to find her own identity amongst the stereotypes and different cultures. But it’s still a very heartwarming story.

"But I grew up on a council estate and got a scholarship to Oxford and know how privileged I was, so I wanted to produce a relevant but hopeful story.

"And that’s what Metta Theatre specialises in whether it’s Chekhov or children’s theatre. It just needs to be emotional and powerful with a socially engaging message underpinning it all."

What drives Poppy then? “To change things, to provide some female protagonists on stage to redress the under diversity, to look at our multicultural society, to preach to the unconverted and deliver a message without the audience even noticing because it’s such good entertainment. That’s our agenda.

"So it's about finding your identity in mixed race Britain and celebrating it.

"And if that all sounds a bit heavy, just remember that the actress playing Mowgli is a hiphop and trapeze artist - she’s really extraordinary. There is a lot going on,” Poppy laughs.

Setting up the company Metta Theatre when she was at Oxford studying at St Anne’s, the 32 year-old met her husband there, an engineer at Oriel, there and they have been together ever since producing theatre.

The results and reviews have been stunning and Poppy is bringing the play back to Oxford’s Playhouse where she performed as a student.

“We have been all over the country with it but it will be lovely to come back to Oxford," she adds.

Jungle Book is coming to Oxford Playhouse on June 3-4. www.oxfordplayhouse.com 01865 305305.