Sheffield Lyceum Theatre – until Saturday 16th September 2023
Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh
5*****
What an honour it was to be in Sheffield where the Life of Pi premiered in 2019, and there is no doubt as to why the best-selling book by Yann Martel, won five Olivier Awards and conquered the West End and Broadway. Life of Pi is a feast for the eyes and soul. A sumptuous smorgasbord of sound, sights and immersive delights, It’s a theatrical triumph which must be seen to be believed.
An epic storm destroys a Japanese cargo ship on its way to Canada. Among its passengers were Pi, his family, and the animals Pi’s zookeeper father tended to. Their journey began in Pondicherry, India. The move was due to economic instability. Almost everyone drowned during the storm, except Pi, who is left stranded in the Pacific Ocean, on a lifeboat with four other survivors: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker. The tale opens in Mexico in 1978, in a hospital room. Pi was washed up in a fishing village after 227 days lost at sea. Confused and traumatised, he recounts his experiences in a way the authorities find hard to comprehend, but is everything as it seems?
Lolita Chakrabarti transports Martel’s story to the stage with the intention of it being playful and theatrically rich, and she achieves this with aplomb. While the dialogue lacks some of Martel’s sublime and stirring language, the production more than makes up for it with its dazzling visuals. Director Max Webster’s magnificence, Tim Hatley’s versatile set, Tim Lutkin’s atmospheric lighting, Andrzej Goulding’s stunning video and Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell’s incredible puppets, blend imagination and artistic genius to give Life of Pi an ethereal and otherworldly quality. Every element combines to create seamlessly interchangeable moments in time, as well as countries, land, ocean, and ultimately merges reality with fantasy as we journey with Pi through his life changing experience. We are plunged into moments of joy, harrowing loss, terror, and utter strength. Within moments a hospital room has transformed into a zoo, blink, and it’s an Indian bazaar, seconds later it’s a vast ship and then you would swear blind it’s raining as you witness a storm. A boat appears from nowhere but it’s now a hospital bed…and there is a tiger, a mysterious, magnificent, majestic tiger… or is there?
The puppets are the heart and soul of the show. Wonderous beasts whose every breath and movements are so meticulously choreographed, you would testify you are watching an orangutan with its baby, a shoal of fish swimming in the ocean, a flutter of butterflies, a rumbunctious goat and again, that stunning, beautiful, ferocious tiger. The show’s cast and crew conjured a dynamic and powerful tale, taking on multiple roles they brought Life of Pi to life. Its mind blowing to think this is Divesh Subaskaran’s professional debut. Immensely talented, he takes on the role of the philosophically inclined Pi with ease. He is arresting, delightful, athletic, and charmingly funny. He balanced the many stages of Pi perfectly, enabling us to believe the character has endured a whole gambit of emotions and experiences over the course of the performance. Hypnotic, I was engaged by him, and his love hate relationship with Richard Parker.
Lolita Chakrabarti included more female characters to the production which was not a part of the original novel. This added a wonderful dimension and depth to the production. Bhawna Bhawsar was fabulous and entertaining as Lulu Chen/Mrs Biology Kumar, Goldy Notay was wonderful as Amma, and without giving away spoilers, her last scene gave me goosebumps. Keshini Misha was a great playful balance to Pi as his sister Rani. Lilian Tsang was brilliant as Mrs Okamoto/Ships Captain, navigating the stage with ease. Ralph Birtwell as Father, Antony Antunes as Cook/Father Martin, Chand Martinez as Mama-Ji/Admiral Balbir Singh and Vinesh Veerasami as the Russian Sailor all gave incredible performances which added energy and spirit to the play. Sebastian Goffin, Akash Heer, Romina Hytten, Katie Kennedy-Rose and Kate Rosewell deserved their standing ovation as the head, heart, and hind of Richard Parker the Tiger. Undulating, his meticulous movements, from a flick of the tail to a lick of the paw were mesmerising. Without this incredible skill and effort, I’m not sure what Life of Pi would be? For Richard Parker, along with Pi, is the head, heart and hind of the tale. I was spellbound from the moment he stalked on stage.
Life of Pi is bewitching in every sense, from its sounds, colours and its dance like movement. A thought provoking and touching production there is always something to ponder and consider. You are presented with the most fascinating detail, how you choose to interpret it is up to you. From the moment the show begins, it’s all there for you. Allow yourself to be captivated and transported through this voyage in all its meaning. Life of Pi is a spectacular work of living, breathing theatre, a blend of magical realism that will leave you speechless for all the right reasons, and I will once again say, it really does need to be seen to be believed.