Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, N.Y.
Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel
Adapted for stage by Lolita Chakrabarti
Directed by Max Webster
“I went to three churches…”
Good theater is great storytelling. Pi, the protagonist of this story, tells his own stories about his life and his survival of a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean. He tells three versions of his story, and it is up to the listeners (on stage and in the audience) to decide on which to believe and hopefully to understand the other versions. Pi is a teenager whose family, for political reasons, are forced from their homeland along with many of the zoo animals they own. While traveling to America, their ship is scuttled and everyone except Pi drowns. He survives more than 127 days in a lifeboat with no food or water. Interviewed in a hospital, he tells his stories. Each is remarkable in its own way.
Belief—and the ability to believe—is at the core of this show. If we can’t buy his story, we can’t buy this show. His recent religious experiences in Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism have left him confused. His stories of survival are influenced by these creeds and give us his three tales of survival, solo time, time with a crazed ship’s cook, time with an adult male Bengal tiger. The last version takes precedence in this play.
The company of more than 20 players are choreographed throughout the play so that we always feel that sense of being lost at sea as inescapable. Whether in the hospital, lost at sea, or island bound, Pi is in constant motion, unceasingly active for over two hours. The actor’s melodrama leaves him no options. Combined with the superb puppetry of the tiger, the show is mesmerizing, and this is abetted by the set and lighting. It is impossible to ignore the complex relationships in the story and on the stage that make this show unique. It is almost like being absorbed in a difficult dream, one you remember, don’t understand, and can’t easily shake.
Is “Life of Pi” for everyone? No. It isn’t a children’s show, though it is recommended for those over the age of eight. Is it for adults suffering issues with reality? I don’t think so. Is it a good show? Absolutely. It’s a special show.
“Life of Pi” plays at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, N.Y., through February 23. Visit the theater’s website for tickets.
