“Life of Pi” on Stage is a Cinematic and Philosophical Wonder
Photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman
The opinions reflected in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, faculty and students of The King's College.
(REVIEW) Broadway has long been pulled between commercial, “theme-park” shows and philosophical, artistic works. The former tends to draw larger box office returns, and the latter greater critical acclaim. Occasionally a show is able to achieve success in both categories and this spring one such Oliver Award-winning production transfers from London to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre by the title of “Life of Pi.”
Based on the popular novel and motion picture film of the same name, “Life of Pi” follows the family of Pi, a young and fearless boy portrayed by Horan Abeysekera (who won an Oliver Award for this role), as they flee political unrest in their home country of India aboard a cargo ship bound for Canada. In the play’s first act, we follow Pi’s childhood as he and his sister grow up in his father’s (Rajesh Bose) zoo.
At the zoo, Pi befriends many of the animals, but when he fails to keep his distance from the new Bengal tiger, his father puts a goat in the tiger’s cage to warn his son of the beast’s raw strength and violent nature. The tiger, amusingly named Richard Parker because of a shipping label mixup, kills the goat and becomes Pi’s worst enemy.
During Pi and his family’s voyage to Canada, their ship sinks during a storm, and Pi escapes in a lifeboat along with an orangutan, zebra and hyena. As the storm continues, the hyena kills the other animals, turning to Pi as his next meal. Richard Parker saves Pi and kills the hyena. Pi then flees to a nearby piece of floating debris, still fearful of the tiger’s power.
Pi spends over 200 days stranded at sea, gradually gaining the trust of Richard Parker and learning how to survive from a manual in the lifeboat’s survival kit. The ordeal pushes Pi to the limits of his physical and mental endurance, and his sanity begins to slip under the heat and exhaustion of the sun.
The play, directed by Max Webster, is cinematic in its style and visuals. Although it is not a musical, a full orchestral score (composed by Andrew T. Mackay) accompanies much of the show and helps to paint a vivid world for Pi, his family and the animals to inhabit. “Life of Pi” has clearly spent its budget well. Each animal in the story comes to life on stage as full-size puppets, handled by multiple puppeteers per creature in an impressive manner (puppetry by Finn Caldwell & Nick Barnes).
The scenery of this production, designed by Tim Hatley, is equally impressive. No part of the set is underused or overlooked, and moments of “stage magic” occur from the opening scene right up to the very end. I couldn’t help but gasp multiple times at the beautiful, creative ways the designers of this show found to tell its story.
It isn’t until the very end of the play that we come to realize that the story working out in front of us is more philosophical than we originally thought. As the storyteller recounting his experience to the shipwreck’s investigator, Pi presents his adventure as he remembers it. But eventually, we come to doubt if his recollection is the most brutally accurate version of reality. I won’t spoil the revelation, but it’s a remarkably complex, thought-provoking metaphor that allows great storytelling to come alongside crowd-pleasing theatrics.
The London production of “Life of Pi,” which featured the same cast and creative team as the New York version, won multiple accolades. After seeing the show, it’s easy to predict it will do the same in the United States. With wide appeal, it’s likely to be a soaring success and is worth getting a ticket as soon as you can.
“Life of Pi” is currently running at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
Eli Johnson is the Theatre Columnist for the Empire State Tribune. He is a sophomore at The King's College majoring in Business. He is an avid theatre-goer and always enjoys a game of chess.