Life of Pi at Royal and Derngate Northampton Review
Reviewed by Leanne W
The Life of Pi tells the extraordinary story of Pi, a young Indian boy who grows up in a zoo. Due to political unrest the family are forced to move and board a shipping vessel to begin a new life with their animals. After an epic storm in the Pacific Ocean, Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger – who is named Richard Parker.
Ahead of meeting Richard Parker tension is built with use of lighting, the cold stark space of his feeding pen obvious against the warm background of the Pondarosa Zoo. As he enters, we see the beauty and majesty of a real tiger, hungry and ready to pounce on his prey. We know that this tiger will be on a boat with Pi and the tension in the audience is palpable. The huge paws, slow movements and guttural sounds the main contributors to this.
The animals are all puppets who are expertly controlled by a small team who skilfully move them in such a lifelike manner it is easy to believe they are real life (The casual flicks of the tiger’s tail are very realistic!) it is easy to see why they won (collectively) awards for best supporting performers. Even though the puppeteers are on stage with the animals throughout it is easy to ignore their presence and accept them as the real thing! The sounds of the animals are also provided by the performers operating them making their performance even more spectacular. Later we see Pi and Richard Parker meet a variety of sea creatures with the shoals of fish particularly mesmerising.
We hear Pi, played by Divesh Subaskaran (who is making his professional debut in the role) recounting his epic adventure from a hospital bed. The action moves seamlessly between this room, the Zoo, a vibrant marketplace, the container ship and, of course, the life boat, the use of warm and cool lighting helping us to feel we are all in these places with Pi and his family. At times the set moved so effortlessly I was hardly aware of it happening until I noticed a change in the location of the scene. Cleverly the boat separates in to two pieces and slides neatly under the walls.
The use of projections to show the rain and waves lapping the boat as it revolves on the stage is fantastic and so clever, giving a real feeling that we were all floating in the Pacific Ocean. At times the walls seemed to turn to water as the action returns to the ocean.
The play incorporates moments of humour cleverly, which do not detract at all from the intensity of a story of a boy in an ocean with a Bengal Tiger. There were moments where I realised I was holding my breath willing Pi to survive his treacherous journey; both at sea and with his dangerous passenger. I enjoyed moments of pure pleasure of the storms and nights under the stars. Pi is guided and supported on his passage by the spirits of his family and the eccentric Admiral Balbir Singh.
Almost all the cast multirole a variety of parts sharing the smaller parts, and yet at no point was overly obvious that this was happening, as well as each involved in the use of puppetry.
This production captures all the elements to Pi’s story perfectly. As an audience we are transported to a small boat in a vast ocean and experience every moment with Pi as Divesh Subaskaran brings each aspect of the story to life physically and vocally. The spectacular use of visuals in no small part adds to this significantly, as does the clever use of sound. The scenery is varied and transports the audience effortlessly between scenes.
Life of Pi is, in short, an outstanding piece of theatre which doesn’t only take you on a journey across an ocean but on a journey through the senses and emotions. An absolute delight and a must see for all.
Rating: 5/5
The show plays Tuesday 2nd April 2024 – Saturday 6th April 2024
Tickets are available and are priced from £15 – £54
Life Of Pi – Royal & Derngate (royalandderngate.co.uk) or call Box Office
01604 624811
https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whats-on/life-of-pi/