“Life Of Pi” Broadway Review: A boy and his tiger show their stripes

When a character promises a life story so inspiring it turns an atheist into a believer, the story better be compelling. life of piLolita Chakrabarti’s stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s heartbreaking 2001 novel, which opens tonight at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, is unlikely to win any religious converts, but a renewed faith in the art of puppetry is anything but guaranteed.

With successful young actor Hiran Abeysekera reprising his Olivier Award-winning London role as the title character, life of pi, directed by Max Webster, stays closer to the novel than Ang Lee’s 2012 film adaptation, building the plot around maritime investigation rather than book writing — and, of course, replacing CGI animals with enough fully articulated life-size puppets to make a. make to populate the zoo, or at least a lifeboat. All on board are the occasional hyena, orangutan, zebra, solitary sea turtle, hyena-baiting water rat and, most impressively, a giant Bengal tiger with the improbable name of Richard Parker.

How the creatures and young Pi end up sharing a small ship floating in the Pacific won’t surprise you whether you’ve read the novel or seen the movie and if you’ve experienced neither life of pi have an exhibition delivery system ready. Similar to the spiritual mysteries of the 1970s, when novices with stigmatized palms (Agnes of God) and horse-blind fanatics (equus) Confused rational interlocutors for most of two industries, PI pits his righteous hero against a no-nonsense investigator sent to solve both mysteries: why did the ship sink? – and many, many spiritual pamphlets.

“Are you a religious man, Mr. Okamoto?” the hospitalized, still traumatized Pi asks the investigator, who is watching the sinking of a merchant ship. “Religion,” is the answer, “is more a habit than a truth. An emergency stop.”

Any bets on how quickly the skeptic will change his mind after Pi finishes his giant fish story?

Granted, it really is a story. Piscine Molitor Patel – he prefers pi – is a 17-year-old religiously-seeking (albeit ecumenical) Indian boy from Pondicherry who leaves for Canada with his parents, sister and boxes of animals from the family zoo to escape political unrest in India , 1970 When the ship sinks in a storm, mild-mannered vegetarian Pi sets sail for a lifeboat that he will soon share with some other castaways of the four-legged species.

When the zoo’s terrifying creatures soon start cooking each other’s meals, Pi finds himself one last man standing with the feral Richard Parker, the 250-pound jungle cat who, through some circus training tips Pi remembers during his ghost visits, his father, who knew. animals, have been intimidated into a fairly peaceful coexistence. (Other human appearances are also on the way, offering Pi some much-needed survival tips and life lessons).

As the days turn into months and the drinking water drops to zero, Pi’s chances seem slimmer and his story involves the skeptical stranger Okamoto-san (Daisuke Tsuji). It doesn’t take long for the tiger to start talking to Pi, and then things get really weird.

But the boy knows how to spin big yarns. Even Broadway audiences were still tickled by Milky White’s cow milk In the forest and the giant prehistoric creatures of Lincoln Center The skin of our teeth will be enchanted by the creatures PICourtesy of director of puppetry and movement Finn Caldwell and his co-designer Nick Barnes.

The same goes for the work of set and costume designer Tim Hatley, video designer Andrzej Goulding, and lighting designer Tim Lutkin (their combined Olivier trophies could capsize a ship of their own). At one point Pi jumps overboard and is swallowed by the sea/stage, a bit of theatrical trickery no less effective for its simplicity.

Still, visual appeal can’t completely wash away one side of a stacked deck or make a compelling argument for the fantastic over the plausible. Basically, Okamoto-san probably agrees.

Title: life of pi
Location: Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
Director: Max Wester
Written by: Lolita Chakrabarti, based on the novel by Yann Martel
main cast: Hiran Abeysekera, Fred Davis, Scarlet Wilderink, Brian Thomas Abraham, Rajesh Bose, Avery Glymph, Mahira Kakkar, Kirstin Louie, Salma Qarnain, Sathya Sridharan, Daisuke Tsuji, Sonya Venugopal
Time: 2 hours 15 minutes (including break)