Spectacular “Life of Pi” at PPAC
By Kimberly Rau
The visually thrilling tour of “Life of Pi” is at the Providence Performing Arts Center this week, and it’s one of those rare, actually not-to-be-missed pieces of theater that everyone should see. A mix of magical realism and drama, the story is everything you could want from a play.
Pi, a 17-year-old boy, lives with his parents and sister in India, where the family runs a zoo. When political upheaval makes life difficult for the family, they obtain visas and set sail on a cargo ship – animals in tow – for Canada. When the ship sinks, Pi finds himself alone on a lifeboat with some of the animals, spending hundreds of days at sea before washing ashore. The play opens in a hospital room in Mexico, where a counselor and a government official are waiting to interview Pi, hoping to learn more about the tragedy that befell him.
What unfolds is an incredible (in the most literal sense of the word) tale of survival, faith and compromise on one of the most unforgiving places on earth, the open ocean. And such a fantastic tale requires equally incredible theater magic to bring it to life, which “Life of Pi” has in spades, from seamless set changes and perfect lighting to the inspired staging of the entire story. The walls of home become the dangerous bow of a ship; a lifeboat turns into a hospital room. The parallels are not lost, even as you become immersed in the story.
Not to be outdone, Pi’s storytelling is a bit of magic in and of itself, confounding the people who have been sent to speak with him. Time and time again they stop Pi, question him, and are forced to accept that only their young subject really knows what happened on the waves. Taha Mandviwala does an exceptional job embracing Pi and bringing his story to life. You ache for the boy who lost everything and cheer his successes as if he were your own child. In the end, there are no clear answers, no clear truths, just one boy’s version of a terrible event. Is it embellished? Maybe. Does it matter? No.
By far the most visually arresting part of the show is the puppetry – of all the animals, but especially Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger who made a mortal enemy of Pi back in India, when he ate one of Pi’s beloved goats. But after making short work of the other animals on the lifeboat, it’s just Pi and Richard for the duration, with Pi tasked with figuring out how to tame his foe before he becomes the next meal. The two spend 227 days at sea in the improbable tale, and through it all, the masterful puppeteers make you forget you’re not watching an actual big cat up there. In one particularly impressive scene, a fierce rainstorm threatens to drown Pi (who has left the boat for the relative safety of a raft of debris tied to the hull). Richard leaps from the boat and is swimming among the waves and fish (more skillfully done puppets), creating a visual masterpiece. Five separate actors are listed as puppeteers for the large beast, and still, every move is fluid and cohesive.
“Life of Pi” was originally a bestselling novel that got an Academy Award-winning film treatment in 2012. The Tony Award-winning stage version opened on Broadway in 2023,
with the tour kicking off in 2024 under the direction of Ashley Brooke Monroe. It’s easy to see why critics have loved every version of it. This is a beautiful story, and the stage is the perfect medium for telling it. Catch this stunning, moving show before it leaves Providence.
“Life of Pi” runs through Feb. 16, 2025, at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence. Tickets may be obtained at the box office, online at ppacri.org or by calling 401.421.2787
