A feast for the eyes: stunning, moving and brilliantly crafted

Life of Pi is the epic tale of seventeen-year old Pi, recounting his experience of finding himself on a small boat in the middle of the ocean as the sole survivor of a shipwreck. It’s a classic story known to many people as the book or film, and may in theory not seem the most suited to the stage, but in reality that couldn’t have been further from the truth. This show is an incredible adaptation, and has been designed so brilliantly with no illusion too difficult; the audience were captivated from start to finish.

There are many elements which made this show such a high standard. The animals, including a zebra, an orangutan, a goat, a hyena, and of course Richard Parker the Bengal tiger were all puppets, handled by varying numbers of puppeteers. I have to commend the whole puppetry team: the puppets themselves were exquisite, and their movements were so realistic that it was easy to let the puppeteers fall away and get lost in the illusion. The set and lighting were also fantastic. The set was very cleverly designed to segway between Pi recounting his story from his room and out on the ocean with the animals, but it also folded out into the zoo, the market and the cargo ship, with outstanding attention to detail. It was the lighting and projections, however, which made the atmospheres truly magical. The storm, with the rain lashing down and that stunning starry sky were just two scenes which were completely immersive, transporting the audience to that little boat in the middle of the sea with Pi and the tiger. I particularly loved the colours and imagery throughout. 

Divesh Subaskaran was simply brilliant as Pi. His acting was faultless, and he brought a wonderful youthful energy to the stage. I also found myself laughing, which I wasn’t expecting. There were funny lines and visual comedy dotted throughout, perfectly delivered by Divesh: despite the story being quite a tragic and dramatic one, it wasn’t without humour. I really liked this element, and much of it added to Pi’s character as a naïve teenager.

The show was also choreographed beautifully. It was fluid and graceful to watch, with some impressive lifts by the supporting actors to depict Pi falling or moving through the water, and Divesh’s athleticism made every movement seem effortless, adding to the balletic feel of the production. The boat was often slowly rotating, maintaining the sense of it moving on the water.

One thing which didn’t work was the choice of accents. Whilst Pi had an Indian accent, his sister sounded American, and his Indian mother and both the Canadian and Japanese ambassadors had British accents. It didn’t make sense and was a little jarring for me, and added to Divesh standing out as the best actor.

I don’t think I have ever seen a play quite so beautiful. It was simply mesmerising, and the story had many members of the audience in tears by the end.