LIFE OF PI
*****
Director: Max Webster
Screenplay: Lolita Chakrabarti, adapted from the eponymous novel by Yann Martel.
Principal cast:
Hiran Abeysekera
Mina Anwar
Nicholas Khan
Payal Mistry
Tom Espiner
Habib Nasib Nader
Country: UK
Classification: CTC
Runtime: 150 mins.
Australian release date: 31 March 2023.
Life of Pi has had a charmed existence ever since the novel, by Canadian author Yann Martel, was originally published in 2001, which is fitting for such an enchanting work. First, the book won the Man Booker Prize in 2002, sold more than 12 million copies and stayed on The New York Times best seller list for well over a year; then, in 2012, it was adapted into a film directed by Ang Lee, which went on to win four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe and two BAFTAs; and finally, in 2019, British actor and writer Lolita Chakrabarti turned it into a play that opened in Sheffield and won four UK Theatre Awards. Similarly, when the play transferred to London’s West End in November 2021 (running until January this year), it won five Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Play. Luckily for audiences outside Britain, before the London season at Wyndham’s Theatre closed, it was recorded as part of the National Theatre Live season of filmed plays, and now this multi-award-winning production is getting an Australian release. The way things are going, we should probably expect a digital game version of Life of Pi any day now!
National Theatre Live: Life of Pi is a stunning achievement in all respects – writing, direction, set, sound and lighting design, acting and puppetry. Yes, puppetry. Anyone familiar with Martel’s extraordinary story will know that the protagonist, a young Indian called Pi (Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekera) was shipwrecked on a journey from Pondicherry to Canada and was marooned in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger. In the play, these creatures have been superbly, and quite realistically, rendered as puppets operated by two or three actor-puppeteers. Their movement and mannerisms are so excellently performed that you quickly forget that you’re not watching the real thing, particularly in the case of the tiger, who Pi calls Richard Parker. Collectively, the seven-member team responsible for bringing these animals to life won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor and the designer, Finn Caldwell, was co-winner of the Best Set Design award – it’s hard to imagine how these awards could have gone to anyone else, so outstanding is their work. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a work for children though - Martel and Chakrabarti’s text deals with some very high-concept themes.
As for Abeysekera, he too takes your breath away. The actor is in his thirties but he has no trouble convincing us that he is actually 17, the age that Pi is when his terrible adventure begins. He effortlessly captures all the enthusiasm and naivety of a teenager in the early scenes in Pondicherry and then, later, the wariness and circumspection of a boy scarred by his experiences as he relates his unbelievable story to a doubting insurance investigator. It’s a wonderful performance and one deserving of the Best Actor accolade in the Olivier Awards. National Theatre Live: Life of Pi is brilliant. Miss it at your peril.
Screenplay: Lolita Chakrabarti, adapted from the eponymous novel by Yann Martel.
Principal cast:
Hiran Abeysekera
Mina Anwar
Nicholas Khan
Payal Mistry
Tom Espiner
Habib Nasib Nader
Country: UK
Classification: CTC
Runtime: 150 mins.
Australian release date: 31 March 2023.
Life of Pi has had a charmed existence ever since the novel, by Canadian author Yann Martel, was originally published in 2001, which is fitting for such an enchanting work. First, the book won the Man Booker Prize in 2002, sold more than 12 million copies and stayed on The New York Times best seller list for well over a year; then, in 2012, it was adapted into a film directed by Ang Lee, which went on to win four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe and two BAFTAs; and finally, in 2019, British actor and writer Lolita Chakrabarti turned it into a play that opened in Sheffield and won four UK Theatre Awards. Similarly, when the play transferred to London’s West End in November 2021 (running until January this year), it won five Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Play. Luckily for audiences outside Britain, before the London season at Wyndham’s Theatre closed, it was recorded as part of the National Theatre Live season of filmed plays, and now this multi-award-winning production is getting an Australian release. The way things are going, we should probably expect a digital game version of Life of Pi any day now!
National Theatre Live: Life of Pi is a stunning achievement in all respects – writing, direction, set, sound and lighting design, acting and puppetry. Yes, puppetry. Anyone familiar with Martel’s extraordinary story will know that the protagonist, a young Indian called Pi (Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekera) was shipwrecked on a journey from Pondicherry to Canada and was marooned in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger. In the play, these creatures have been superbly, and quite realistically, rendered as puppets operated by two or three actor-puppeteers. Their movement and mannerisms are so excellently performed that you quickly forget that you’re not watching the real thing, particularly in the case of the tiger, who Pi calls Richard Parker. Collectively, the seven-member team responsible for bringing these animals to life won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor and the designer, Finn Caldwell, was co-winner of the Best Set Design award – it’s hard to imagine how these awards could have gone to anyone else, so outstanding is their work. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a work for children though - Martel and Chakrabarti’s text deals with some very high-concept themes.
As for Abeysekera, he too takes your breath away. The actor is in his thirties but he has no trouble convincing us that he is actually 17, the age that Pi is when his terrible adventure begins. He effortlessly captures all the enthusiasm and naivety of a teenager in the early scenes in Pondicherry and then, later, the wariness and circumspection of a boy scarred by his experiences as he relates his unbelievable story to a doubting insurance investigator. It’s a wonderful performance and one deserving of the Best Actor accolade in the Olivier Awards. National Theatre Live: Life of Pi is brilliant. Miss it at your peril.
