Those who have neither read the source novel nor seen Ang Lee's film adaptation may approach the stage version of Life of Pi with some trepidation: as with the Harry Potter franchise, you don't need to have followed it to know a few important things about it: that it's broadly a work of Magical Realism and that its most famous character is a Bengal tiger named 'Richard Parker'.
Lolita Chakrabarti's energetic adaption, originally performed across the square at Sheffield's Crucible venue, received an appropriately intense and physical production from Max Webster that exploited the novel's epic length and varying locations to create a richly theatrical experience. It needs to be said straightaway that the puppetry that forms such a central part of the production is every bit as impressive as is required to make possible the extended suspension of disbelief on which the show depends. The creation of a whole transplanted zoo of animals - zebra, orangutan, hyena, goat and the aforementioned Bengal tiger represents a considerable creative task and movement director Finn Caldwell, working with designs by Caldwell and Nick Barnes have pulled off an impressive feat.
The story itself has the sweep and intensity we expect from substantial bestsellers: the eponymous Pi (short for 'Piscine', ie 'swimming pool') enjoys a happy childhood in India, where his parents own a zoo. But when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a national emergency in 1977, the family decides it must seek a more secure future in Canada. Passage on a ship is secured, with the animals secured in the hold. But when a vicious storm causes a shipwreck, Pi is the sole escapee, along with a select number of the animals, including 'Richard Parker' the Bengal tiger. How Pi finds an accommodation with this powerful predator - which promptly kills and eats the other animals - occupies the main body of the play and it's here that Divesh Subaskaran in the emotionally and physically gruelling role of Pi really came into his own .It's probably harder to work opposite non-articulating animal puppets than it is to work opposite real animals!
For anyone looking for a spectacular and escapist adventure, Life Of Pi fits the bill; a slight reservation for those who have read the novel may be that the philosophical aspects of Martel's work are somewhat elided over (a framing device shows Pi being psychoanalysed after his ordeal - he presents two versions of his improbable tale and the psychologist decides to go with the more outlandish one), but that might be an inevitable casualty of adaptation. In all other respects, this is an enjoyable and worthwhile production.
Reviewer - Paul Ashcroft
on - 4.9.23
Reviewer - Paul Ashcroft
on - 4.9.23
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