Life of Pi - Orpehum Theatre

Life of Pi, based on the novel by Yann Martel, is now playing on stage at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. I was able to attend the opening night and here are my thoughts. First, and foremost, I have not read the book, nor have I seen the Ang Lee film that was based on the book. Beyond knowing that it was about a guy who at one point is on a boat with a tiger, I knew nothing. The play, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti, tells the fascinating survival story of a boy whose family owns a zoo. Due to the political climate in India, they decide to move the family and the zoo to Canada. During transport, the cargo ship they are on sinks and Pi is one of the survivors....along with a zebra with a broken leg, a hyena, and orangutan, and eventually a Bengal tiger with the odd name of Richard Parker. They all survive, for a while, on a lifeboat. Eventually Pi and Richard Parker are the only ones left. How these two survive is the core of the story and I won't give it away.

So, if you have read the book, or seen the film, why would you want to see it on stage? The stagecraft. The cast was very good, the storytelling was as clear as it could be (considering the original novel being a "philosophical novel exploring metaphysics and spirituality." But what drew my attention and interest was the stagecraft. What do I mean by that? Well, clearly there is no live tiger on stage, nor any animals, nor an ocean, or a zoo so...how do you show all of that? Stagecraft. The stage is made of three walls. Each wall has portions that can open and close so they can reveal aspects of the zoo, or allow a giraffe's head to be visible, or the wall can open up even further to turn into the multi-story deck of a cargo ship. At the same time, the panels can be quickly closed to go back to the hospital room where Pi is telling his survival story. The way these elements of the stage were used, along with lighting and sound were just amazing. Yet at the same time, it was all practical effects. Meaning there was no magic, no real special effects. You could see what was happening and your mind and imagination created a new location. 

Photo: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

The other aspect of stagecraft that consistently amazed me were the animals. All the animals were puppets that were worked by actors. You could see the actor bent over, working the front legs of the tiger, while another worked the head, and another the back legs, and I think a fourth was working the tail. Despite seeing the performers, you didn't focus on them. What you saw was a very large Bengal tiger...doing what tigers do. There have been a number of shows recently that use animal puppets. The Lion King would probably be the biggest one that folks know or think of, and Life of Pi leans more towards the stagecraft of War Horse. Life sized animal puppets, clearly being manipulated by human actors and yet the audience loses sight of the human aspect often. Absolute brilliance.

There are aspects of the show that troubled me. There is animal violence (after all, tigers, zebras, hyena, and an orangutan all on one boat has got to lead to violence), and during certain portions I felt that there was cruelty towards the tiger. It all works out in the natural way, but it made me uncomfortable watching it - and yet, due to the brilliance of the actors working the puppets, I could not look away. There is also, naturally, the theme of loss, and how to handle that sort of trauma. All in all, I am glad I saw this amazing production. If you have any interest in fantastic stagecraft, or if you are a fan of the book or film - do yourself a favor and see this show.