Life of Pi
Photo credit: Johan Persson
Last night I was lucky enough to attend Press night at Bath’s Theatre Royal, where I was blown away by the stage production of Life of Pi. Now appearing at the Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday 25 May, this is a must-see show, adapted by celebrated playwright Lolita Chakrabarti and brought to life by an incredible team of cast and crew. Whether or not you have read the book this is absolutely a show worth seeing. Life of Pi is a truly wonderful story, and all of the cast and crew did incredible work to bring it to the stage whilst retaining the charm of the original book.
Adwitha Arumugam starred as an Alternate Pi during yesterday’s opening night of the play, taking over from Divesh Subaskaran and allowing the role to be seamlessly gender-swapped. It’s a delicately nuanced performance. Arumugam was incredible in the lead role, creating a multi-layered character full of emotion and authenticity.
Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, this Olivier Award winning play follows Pi – a teenager who finds herself stranded alone on a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal tiger after a cargo ship sinks in the Pacific Ocean.
Pi and her family were based in India and owned a zoo. When offered the opportunity to move to Canada, the family packed up their life, including the zoo animals, and got on the cargo ship to take them to start a new life. However, tragedy strikes and soon Pi is left without her family. The story follows Pi’s attempts to survive at sea in a small lifeboat with several of the animals. And at the end of the show, there’s a great twist to the story as well.
Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, this Olivier Award winning play follows Pi – a teenager who finds herself stranded alone on a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal tiger after a cargo ship sinks in the Pacific Ocean.
Pi and her family were based in India and owned a zoo. When offered the opportunity to move to Canada, the family packed up their life, including the zoo animals, and got on the cargo ship to take them to start a new life. However, tragedy strikes and soon Pi is left without her family. The story follows Pi’s attempts to survive at sea in a small lifeboat with several of the animals. And at the end of the show, there’s a great twist to the story as well.
Photo credit: Johan Persson
The puppets were extraordinary, and it was incredible to watch the artistry of the teams who operated the animals, managing to beautifully bring the characters to life throughout the story. At one stage audience members were even able to see each inhale and exhale of Richard Parker’s breathing whilst aboard the lifeboat. The sound effects and noises the operators made were also fantastically life-like. The actors made the animals move so realistically, and the colours and design of the puppets were amazing. Akash Heer gave an especially wonderful performance as Tiger Head in last night’s show, moving with confidence and fluidity that made the character feel so real. In fact, the animals were so believable, at points I was completely convinced that a tiger was really swimming in the sea right there on stage. As you become more and more engrossed in the story, the puppeteers begin to disappear in your mind altogether and the animals completely come to life.
Photo credit: Johan Persson
The set and lighting design of the production is phenomenal, making use of cinematic soundscapes, projections, lighting effects, and movement; particularly on the floor where audiences watch in awe as the stage transforms to open sea. The whole production really transported me to that world and felt so realistic.
The play is beautiful, very moving and thought-provoking, as well as visually stunning. It’s most definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen, an outstanding production and one I really hope you will be able to see for yourself whilst Life of Pi is here visiting Bath on this leg of the nationwide tour!
The play is beautiful, very moving and thought-provoking, as well as visually stunning. It’s most definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen, an outstanding production and one I really hope you will be able to see for yourself whilst Life of Pi is here visiting Bath on this leg of the nationwide tour!