Lolita Chakrabarti, based on the novel by Yann Martel
Simon Friend Entertainment/Crucible Sheffield
The Lowry
July 2-6, 2024; 2 hrs 9 mins
Readers of the Booker prize winning novel The Life of Pi will wonder how you can transfer this story to the stage; after all most of the second half features a young Indian stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
The answer is to have a brilliant young actor, a superb technical team and a wondrous set of puppeteers. Rush to the Lowry to see all three while you still can.
Singaporean Divesh Subraskan, playing a young Indian, travelling with a circus on a cargo boat to a new life in Canada, is a novice in his first professional performance. Note his name; he will be seen regularly, giving great performances. He is on stage for virtually the whole of the play, handling serious as well as comic lines with ease. Anyone who can investigate four major religions (Hindi, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity to see what god has to offer - with a serious face - has my vote as actor of the year.
Max Webster's production produces spectacular stage effects; the ship sinking in a storm made me feel seasick just to watch. Life of Pi's ability to offer moments of magic is unparalleled; we are transported in a moment from the sultry splendours of India to the
Pacific ocean and back again in moments. Wonderful scene changes occur in the blink of an eye.
But best of all are the puppeteers: Sebastian Coffin (tiger head), Aizah Khan (tiger heart) and Tom Stacy (tiger hind) make real the creatures they inhabit, and as always, after two seconds you only see the animal. The story is pure magical realism, moving from lifeboat with zebra, orang utan and an unnamed hyena (even as a puppet they get a bad press) - into the Pacific for 223 days.
Only the human character is able to tell the tale. But he makes use of the tiger to show a primitive world; nasty, brutish and short-lived is the name of the game. The show's alternative story, with elements of cannibalism, violence and misogyny, is truer but even more painful.
The supporting cast members are fine, but pale into the background against the power of the animals. Never act with children or animals is the familiar phrase, and it's never been truer than here.
More info and tickets here
