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Manchester Evening News

Entertainment

Bethan Shufflebotham

I watched the ‘jaw-dropping’ production of Life of Pi ahead of month-long Lowry residency

Lowry (Organization) Richard Parker Johan Persson Salford Manchester

December typically sees UK stages flooded with dames, villains and ‘oh no he isn’t’s for a much-loved panto season, but this Christmas, The Lowry are going to be doing things a little differently. Instead, the Salford theatre will stage an escape from the cheesy festivities with a multi-Olivier award-winning production that offers the perfect alternative if the recycled jokes and age-old gags just don’t do it for you.

Fresh off London’s West End, Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel Life of Pi will be heading out on tour across the UK this summer, before spending an entire month in the Quays for Christmas.

I visited the West End Wyndham Theatre before the curtain closed on January 15 to experience the magic ahead of the show sailing to Manchester at the end of the year. And it truly is a must-see.

A relatively new stage production, Life of Pi was first staged in 2019, and follows the story of Piscine “Pi” Patel - the son of a zookeeper from Pondicherry, India, as his family make an attempt to move the zoo to Canada.

After the cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, there are five survivors stranded on a single lifeboat – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, sixteen year-old Pi and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker.

Time is against them, nature is harsh but together, Pi and Richard Parker must figure out a way to survive until they reach land or are rescued.

Life of Pi will complete a month-long run in Salford later this year (JOHAN PERSSON)

The story is told by Pi from a hospital bed in Mexico as officials desperately try to figure out what really happened to the TsimTsum ship. The set switches scenes seamlessly, becoming the Patel family zoo, the cargo ship and the sea within the blink of an eye. In fact, in some cases, blink and you reall will miss something special, such as Pi quite literally disappearing beneath the surface of the stage waves and reappearing elsewhere in the water.

Most impressive must be the lifeboat on which Pi and Richard Parker fight to survive, rising up out of the floor amongst splashes of waves intelligently created alongside lighting, video and sound from Tim Lutkin, Andrzej Goulding and Carolyn Downing that is so convincing, I found myself feeling a bit seasick at one point.

But this goes to show how wonderfully immersive this production is, putting you practically right on the boat with Parker and Pi, weathering the storm with them.

Life of Pi won five Olivier Awards in April 2022, including Best New Play and Best Actor, as well as awards for set, lighting and design, but in an historic first for the Olivier Awards - the seven performers who puppeteer the Tiger ‘Richard Parker’ were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Life of Pi original West End cast - Richard Parker (Johan Persson)

For those who have seen The Lion King at Manchester’s Palace Theatre, then you’ll already have a pretty good idea at how extraordinary and breathtaking these life-sized puppeteered animals can be.

In Life of Pi Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell’s puppets are brought to life by a team of skilled actors who move and breathe as one with the menagerie of beasts, expertly choreographing their every move, from the swish of a tail, to the flick of a whisker.

The show personifies goats, zebras, hyenas and orangutans, but it is tiger Richard Parker who steals the show, bounding onto the stage with an air of regency. It feels like an honour to be in his presence. It’s equally fantastic to see Pi - played by Nuwan Hugh Perera - interact with the animal twice his size. An animal which became his only companion during his 227 days at sea.

Nuwan’s Pi is dishevelled and suffering from PTSD after his traumatic trip, but he hasn’t lost his humour, delivering quick-witted sarcasm and harbouring both a boyish charm that allows him to use the stage as his jungle gym, but a sense of maturity that serves as a reminder of all this teenager has been through.

Life of Pi (original West End cast) (Johan Persson)

In the play, Pi tells two stories of how he came to survive, each fueled by the trauma of what happened - or may not have happened - on that lifeboat. But it is up to the audience which one they go home believing. Will it be the tale telling an epic journey of endurance and hope? Or a more sinister story of Pi’s 227 days at sea? Whichever you feel in your heart to be true, the philosophical stage production of Life of Pi will have an emotional hold on you for days, weeks and even months afterwards.

Heartwarming, humourous and hopeful, The Life of Pi will make its way to The Lowry, Salford, from December 5, 2023 to January 6, 2024, with tickets on sale via their website. Offering jaw-dropping visuals, magic and world-class puppetry, it's up there with The Lion King and War Horse as one of the most visually brilliant theatre shows I’ve seen, I implore you to book your tickets to avoid disappointment.

Here is the full list of tour dates for Life of Pi: