Life Of Pi – Royal and Derngate, Northampton

Once upon a time there was a ………all good stories start this way and Life of Pi is a magical story of a young Indian man Piscine, or as he wants to be known as Pi, becomes stranded on a life raft after a terrible storm sinks the ship he and his family are sailing on to Canada. On the raft with Pi are four other survivors, a Hyena, a Zebra, an Orangutan and a beautiful Royal Bengal Tiger! Life of Pi is a breath-taking theatrical adaptation of his epic journey of endurance and hope. The audience can not fail to share the anguish & torment of Pi as he struggles with his quest for survival, against all the odds.

Divesh Subaskaran, in the principal role as Pi, was on stage for practically the whole of the performance, a hugely successful professional debut for the young RADA actor. I think we shall be seeing a lot more of this talented young actor in the future. Besides the brilliant human cast, the stars of the show for me were the puppet figures of the animals, wildlife, birds & fish! The creators of these incredible figures are puppeteers & designers Finn Caldwell & Nick Barnes. Nick will always be remembered for his involvement in creating the puppets for Danny Boyle`s spectacular opening ceremony for the London Olympics in 2012.

The figures were so realistic and despite being able to see the operators inside, outside and all around the animal figures, there was still a great deal of expression, movement & sound which made me think the figures were realistic. I quickly forgot they were puppets and managed to blank out the operators.

The movements of the Hyena were straight from an Attenborough wildlife programme and the life-size Bengal Tiger was huge, having three operators to produce a stunning presentation of this fearsome predator. Some of the other puppets such as the turtle, birds & fish were very simple & effective. The stage set design was also excellent, the life raft was established & removed with ease and the switch from marketplace to ship was smooth & effective, as were all of the other scene changes.

Having opened originally at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in 2019, this spell-binding show enjoyed a West End run, picking up five Olivier Awards in 2022, and opened in Broadway in March 2023 scooping three Tony Awards. As well as the Olivier for Best New Play, in an historic first for the Olivier Awards, the seven performers who manoeuvred the Tiger ‘Richard Parker’ were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role!

“You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.”

Yann Martel, Life of Pi

As the show begins to conclude the audience are posed a series of questions to ponder, which of the two stories that Pi has told is the real account of what really happened on board that life raft? Was Pi the tiger? Who was the chef? There will be no spoilers in this review for those planning to go and watch this incredible, simply magical show so I shall keep the story detail to a minimum, but what I shall finish with is to say this is a simply stunning five star theatrical show with world class puppetry, a brilliant cast, incredible stage design, visuals & sound.

“Life will defend itself no matter how small it is.”

Yann Martel, Life of Pi

If you only visit the theatre once this year, and I hope you will visit far more, make sure you get along to the Royal & Derngate this week, because this is one show you will not want to miss!

“I could not take my eyes from the stage for the entire performance, it was simply awesome”

The Travel Locker

Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling Olivier and Tony-winning stage adaptation of Life of Pi, is at the Royal & Derngate all week until Saturday 6 April, as part of a year-long UK tour at 7.30pm, with matinees at 2.30pm on Wednesday and Saturday.

Tickets – priced from £15* – can be booked by calling Box Office on 01604 655719 or online at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk.

Life of Pi is produced by Simon Friend in association with Playing Field and Tulchin/Bartner.