Michael Cox reviews 'a moving and highly accomplished piece of theatre.'
Life of Pi has been a phenomenon for most of this century. Originally a blockbuster book, Yann Martel’s tale of the shipwrecked Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi for short) and a 450-pound Bengali Tiger captured the minds and hearts of readers world-wide. It would be adapted into a film, which earned acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee an Oscar, and in 2019 it premiered in Sheffield in a new stage version written by Lolita Chakrabarti.
After a lengthy tour, the production finally reaches Edinburgh, and there’s a reason this production has been a huge hit everywhere it’s gone, from the West End and Broadway to this successfully moving tour: it’s a captivating story that’s well-told.
The action begins in a hospital in Mexico, where the traumatised Pi is being interviewed. Pi has been adrift at sea for over 200 days, and two individuals have come to suss out what happened to the ship and how Pi managed to stay alive. The story the interviewers get makes them question the concepts of truth and faith.
The story itself is harrowing stuff as Pi loses everything, and yet Pi’s faith in the world is emotionally stirring and dramatically compelling. As Pi tells their story, the audience watches them go from innocent child in India to survivor.
The book had enough ambiguity that left much of the tale open to interpretation, which is all but impossible to achieve on stage. Here, Pi’s story is shown with elements of reality save for one aspect: the animal characters, all depicted through puppetry.
And while there is much to praise this production, from the excellent ensemble down to the pacing of the show, it will surely be the puppets that will impress most. Birds and fish grace the stage with movement and colour at key moments, and a large giraffe at the beginning of Pi’s tale brings a sense of wonder. The key animal characters of a zebra, a hyena and an orang-utan all amaze, not only in their looks but also in their movement, impressively manipulated by the company.
But the real star of this production is Richard Parker, the tiger that Pi shares a lifeboat with as they are adrift in the Pacific Ocean. The subtle movements of grace and quick flashes of violence are brilliantly handled: beautiful yet at times frightening.
All of which makes for a moving and highly accomplished piece of theatre. Director Max Webster’s production of Life of Pi might not quite reach the dramatic heights of Martel’s novel, but it is brilliant stuff nonetheless.
Life of Pi performs at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh until June 29, 2024. It then goes to the Lowry Theatre in Salford before concluding its 10-month tour. For more information, go to the production’s website.
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