MULTI-AWARD-WINNING PLAY LIFE OF PI TO PLAY AN EXTENDED SEASON AT THE
CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE THIS AUTUMN
THE SHOW VISITS THE VENUE AS PART OF A YEAR-LONG UK AND IRELAND TOUR, BEGINNING ITS JOURNEY AT SHEFFIELD’S LYCEUM THEATRE THIS AUGUST
HAVING OPENED ON BROADWAY THIS SPRING, THE SHOW RECENTLY ADDED THREE TONY AWARDS TO ITS FIVE OLIVIER AWARDS
INTRODUCING DIVESH SUBASKARAN WHO LEADS
THE COMPANY AS ‘PI’
Simon Friend Entertainment is today delighted to announce that Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling Olivier Award-winning stage adaption of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel Life of Pi, will play an extended run at the celebrated Chichester Festival Theatre this autumn where it plays from Thursday 16 November – Saturday 2 December 2023. Tickets go on sale to Friends on Thursday 27th July at www.cft.org.uk. General booking will open on Saturday 16 September with CFT’s full Winter Season (to be announced in early September).
Beginning its first-ever tour of the UK and Ireland at the Sheffield’s Lyceum theatre this August 2023, and starring an extraordinary life-size puppeteered Bengal Tiger, Divesh Subaskaran is confirmed to make his professional debut in the central role of Pi.
He is joined by Antony Antunes, who performs as Tiger Hind / Cook / Father Martin, Adwitha Arumugam as Pi Alternate, Bhawna Bhawsar as Lulu Chen/Mrs Biology Kumar, Ralph Birtwell as Mamaji/ Admiral Balbir Singh, Kriss Dosanjh as Father, Sebastian Goffin as Tiger Head, Akash Heer asTiger Head, Romina Hytten as Tiger Heart and Hind, Katie Kennedy-Rose as Tiger Heart and Hind, Aizah Khan as Tiger Heart and Hind, Chand Martinez as Pandit-ji, Keshini Misha as Rani,
Goldy Notay as Amma, Sharita Oomeer as Lulu Chen / Mrs Biology Kumar, Kate Rowsell as Tiger Heart and Hind, Lilian Tsang as Mrs Okamoto/Zaida Khan/Ships Captain, Peter Twose and Tiger Head/Voice of Richard Parker/Cook/Father Martin.
‘BREATH-TAKING. IT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THEATRE.
ROAR IT OUT: THIS IS A HIT’ The Times
Life of Pi, which concluded its West End run on 15 January 2023, first opened to critical acclaim at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield in 2019. International commitments for the show include its North American Premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University where it ran from 4 December 2022 to 29 January 2023, followed by its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater where it opened on 9 March 2023. A European tour will follow the tour of the UK and Ireland and there are plans underway for a tour of Australia and Asia.
‘IT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN THEATRE. A TRIUMPH.’
SUNDAY TIMES
Life of Pi won five Olivier Awards in April 2022. As well as Best New Play, and Best Actor for Hiran Abeysekera (the original Pi); in an historic first for the Olivier Awards – the seven performers who puppeteer the Tiger ‘Richard Parker’ were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The production also picked up awards for set (Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell), and lighting design (Tim Lutkin and Andrzej Goulding).
Life of Pi made its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater this spring, opening on 9 March 2023 to celebratory reviews and five Tony Award nominations. It went on to win in three categories: Best Scenic Design of a Play (Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding) and Best Lighting Design of a Play (Tim Lutkin) and Best Sound Design of a Play (Carolyn Downing).
‘THE PUPPETRY IS OUT OF THIS WORLD’
DAILY MAIL
The production is directed by Max Webster, Set and Costume Designer is Tim Hatley, the Puppet Designers are Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, the Puppet and Movement Director is Finn Caldwell, the Video Designer is Andrzej Goulding, the Lighting Designer is Tim Lutkin, theSound Designer is Carolyn Downing, the Composer is Andrew T Mackay, Dramaturgy is by Jack Bradley, the Casting Director is Polly Jerrold, the Associate Director is Leigh Toney, the Associate Puppetry and Movement Director is Scarlet Wilderink, the Associate Set Designer is Ross Edwards, the Associate Puppet Designer is Caroline Bowman, the Costume Supervisor is Sabrina Cuniberto and the Props Supervisor is Ryan O’Conner.
Based on one of the best-loved works of fiction – winner of the Man Booker Prize, selling over fifteen million copies worldwide – Life of Pi is a breath-taking new theatrical adaptation of an epic journey of endurance and hope.
After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, there are five survivors stranded on a single lifeboat – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, a sixteen year-old boy and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive?
Award-winning writer Yann Martel’s works include The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (1993), Self (1996), We Ate the Children Last (2004), Beatrice and Virgil (2010) – a New York Times Bestseller and a Financial Times Best Book, 101 Letters to a Prime Minister (2012) – a collection of letters to the prime minister of Canada; and The High Mountains of Portugal (2016).
‘EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION IS AMAZING.’
OBSERVER
Life of Pi is produced by Simon Friend in association with Playing Field and Tulchin/Bartner.
LIFE OF PI TOUR
28 August 2023 – 29 June 2024
Sheffield Lyceum
29 August – 16 September 2023
Milton Keynes Theatre
19 – 23 September 2023
Norwich Theatre Royal
25 – 30 September 2023
Woking, New Victoria Theatre
2 – 7 October 2023
Southend Cliffs Pavilion
9 – 14 October 2023
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
17 – 21 October 2023
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
23 – 28 October 2023
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
6 – 11 November 2023
Chichester Festival Theatre Tickets on sale from September 2023
16 November – 2 December
Lowry, Salford
5 December 2023 – 6 January 2024
Leeds Grand Theatre
9 – 13 January 2024
Bristol Hippodrome
15 – 20 January 2024
Newcastle Theatre Royal
23 January – 3 February 2024
Birmingham Hippodrome
12 – 17 February 2024
Grand Opera House, Belfast
20 – 24 February 2024
Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin
26 February – 2 March 2024
Theatre Royal Plymouth
5 – 9 March 2024
Leicester Curve
12 – 17 March 2024
Bromley, Churchill Theatre
19 – 23 March
Hull New Theatre
25 – 30 March 2024
Northampton Derngate Theatre
2 – 6 April 2024
Coventry Belgrade
8 – 13 April 2024
Nottingham Theatre Royal
15 – 20 April 2024
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
22 – 27 April 2024
Liverpool Empire
29 April – 4 May 2024
Severn Theatre, Shrewsbury
6 – 11 May 2024
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
14 – 18 May 2024
Truro, Hall for Cornwall
28 May – 01 June 2024
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre
3 – 15 June 2024
Glasgow Theatre Royal
17 – 22 June 2024
Edinburgh Festival Theatre
25 – 29 June 2024
LIFE OF PI
CREATIVE TEAM
Yann Martel Original Author
Lolita Chakrabarti Adaptation
Max Webster Director
Tim Hatley Set & Costume Designer
Finn Caldwell Puppet & Movement Director
Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell Puppet Designers
Andrzej Goulding Video Projection Designer
Tim Lutkin Lighting Designer
Carolyn Downing Sound Designer
Andrew T Mackay Composer
Jack Bradley Dramaturgy
Polly Jerrold Casting Director
Leigh Toney Associate Director
Scarlet Wilderink Associate Puppetry & Movement Director
Ross Edwards Associate Set Designer
Caroline Bowman Associate Puppet Designer
Sabrina Cuniberto Costume Supervisor
Ryan O’Conner Props Supervisor
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook/Instagram/Twitter @LifeOfPiWestEnd