“Every soul is a piece of the Creator so every soul has a whisper of the divine within.” There were numerous quotes sprinkled liberally throughout last night’s production of Life Of Pi, that hit home, strike the heart, spark the mind, inspire the soul, and give theatergoers in Charm City a real chance to connect with a human story this holiday season. Making its national tour debut here at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, Life Of Pi, based on the novel by Yann Martel and adapted to the stage by Lolita Chakrabarti, is a gripping and visceral tale of one young man’s journey lost at sea. Directed by Max Webster, (touring director Ashley Brooke Monroe) with Puppetry and Movement directed by Finn Caldwell, this visual feast of extraordinary proportions will ensnare audiences across America as the story of loss, self-discovery, and the ultimate test of spirituality crashes onto stages throughout the nation.
The sheer wondrous aesthetic of the production truly defies accurate description in words that could ever do its breathtaking beauty justice. Scenic and Costumer Designer Tim Hatley fabricates a wall, which serves first as a blank canvas for the infirmary in Tomatalán, Mexico, where the story first opens. The components of this storybook/fold-out set are deceptively simple. When the story flashes in recollective memory to the Zoo in Pondicherry, India, the windows open to reveal flora and fauna of Pi’s personal paradise. It’s breathtaking. And the scenery is often augmented by the work of Lighting Designers Tim Lutkin and Tim Deiling. Lutkin and Deiling, working in tandem with Video & Animation Designer Andrzej Goulding, craft masterpieces of illumination and visual spectacle to transform one moment into the next. The most-breathtaking among these transformative moments is whenever there is a lapsing shift in time and space— either from the hospital to the zoo or the boat back to the hospital. The wobbling watery effect that consumes the walls as floor lights and fog create the water of the Pacific Ocean, the night sky that shines down over the lone boat lost at sea; it’s all marvelously enchanting and enthralling in a way that races the heart, ensnares the senses, and captivates the imagination tenfold. Hatley’s boat is sheer brilliance and the engaging way in which it glides out from the walls, ebbing and flowing together and apart like the waves themselves is remarkable, theatrical genius.
Director Max Webster and Tour Director Ashely Brooke Monroe carry the tidal current of this chnarrative adrift at sea into the company’s overall movement. It’s truly astonishing to watch those moments when Pi, the narrating protagonist, is tossed about in the water, either on his own or in his dinghy; the ensemble swoop-lifts or carries him (so too is true of the animal-puppets lost at sea but they deserve their own novella’s worth of praise for their wondrous splendors) and the effect is so striking— it’s truly mesmerizing. There is finesse in every step, heartfelt intention in every movement— it’s like the ensemble and their movement is one entity that spiritually unifies player to story, character to actor, experience to audience. It’s awe-inspiring.
Like an aural tapestry, Sound Designer Carolyn Downing infuses the scenic background with splendid sounds, particularly in the scenes that take place at the zoo. Weaving the auditory landscape seamlessly into the action and threading it throw with the original compositions of Andrew T. Mackay, Downing creates a colorful sonic symphony that is the glimmering glitter on this stellar masterpiece of a production. Mackay’s original compositions are their own brilliance, adding pathos and emotional fortitude to these already magnificent scenes, making for a perfectly complete theatrical experience.
Lights and sounds and scenery and costumes are beautiful phenomenon in this production but the radiant resplendence, like a blinding sunbeam dancing through daylight or the North Star bursting in the darkness of night, of this production is the puppet design of Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell. (Caldwell serves as the show’s movement and puppetry director as well.) Everything from the delicate butterflies and wriggling fish that draw the audiences’ attention with childlike wonder to the more masterful, leading player, Richard Parker…the adult Bengal Tiger… are more superb than mere words could accurately parse. Watching these extraordinary creations— everything from the giraffe head poking through the zoo window to the way Richard Parker swims lost at sea— is dazzling. The Puppeteers (Ben Durocher, Emmanuel Elpenord, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner, Austin Wong Harper, Toussaint Jeanlouis Betsy Rosen, Anna Vomáčka) breathe spirit into these puppets, making them real for the players on stage and for the audience. The way they move, the way they interact with Pi and his family; it’s all unbelievably spectacular. Many of the puppeteers double up as the ensemble (also featuring Pragun Bhardwaj, Savidu Geevaratne, Intae Kim, Maya Rangulu), whose spirited movements both on the cargo ship and at the market scene are all part of the glorious spinning cyclone of wonder and terror that is the story of Life of Pi.
There are a handful of key players that populate Pi’s tale. And in a sense, Yann Martel’s source material, and by proxy Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation, take an almost Wizard of Oz vein when it comes to how the players from his real life materialize to Pi in his delusions whilst lost at sea. Sinclair Mitchell, who first appears in the market as the Catholic priest discussing choir practice with Pi, doubles up at sea as Admiral Jackson; both exchanges are humorous, particularly when Pi points out that the large flaw in the Admiral’s survival strategies is the giant, Bengal Tiger occupying the lifeboat. His family appear to him in this dreamlike “and you were there, and you were there, and you were there,” fashion as well. Sharayu Mahale plays Pi’s sister, Rani, whose whiplike smarts make her more than just a blip in his memory. Mi Kang, playing Lulu Chen the social work-figure from the Canadian embassy and Mrs. Biology Kumar, his aunt, gives a versatile performance in both roles. Doting, deeply concerned, and mothering in the role of Lulu Chen, you see Kang’s sharper side when playing his aunt and biology teacher, appearing in his mind’s eye when he’s rationing out food on the boat, being the voice of logic and reason.
Both Pi’s Amma (Jessica Angleskhan) and Baba (Sorab Wadia) appear to him throughout, both with strong grounding in their character representations. Angleskhan and Wadia are lightly polarized, with Wadia being far more enthusiastic, verbosely bold, and tenacious, whereas Angleskhan’s character is more subdued, gentle, and often rooted in the grim reality of being polite. The pair together are somewhat of a foil to the wise but eager Mamaji (Rishi Jaiswal), Pi’s Uncle, who named him, and who harps heavily on the important of swimming lessons.
Remarkably felicitous in his overall theatrical engaging practices, Taha Mandviwala as the titular character is nothing short of brilliant in the role. With a childlike naiveté when first encountering both Mr. Okamoto (Alan Ariano) the Nurse (Jessica Angleskhan) and Lulu Chen (Mi Kang) in the infirmary, Mandviwala hooks the audience straight away, preparing them to embark on his extraordinarily unbelievable journey. Mandviwala is physically captivating, whether he’s springing spryly about on the boat, or drifting (in carry-lifts by fellow performers on stage) through the ocean. Even when he’s physically still, which isn’t very often in this production, there’s a bombastic and frenetic pulsation of energy vibrating ferociously inside of him, yearning to burst out into his limbs and move him. Mandviwala delivers emotionally harrowing and brutally gutting moments of storytelling that deliver blow after blow of emotional unrest. He is Pi so much so that the tears, the gasps, the laughs, the pauses of contemplation arrive naturally from the audience as they hang on his every word, movement, and expression. Even when he tells the tale, as Mr. Okamoto puts it— “a different story, one without animals”— there is something so strikingly beautiful about this darkly, horrific tale, that you’re entranced beyond compare. Mandviwala is nothing short of amazing as Pi and delivers each moment on stage as if it were a captivating solo narrative all its own.
It’s difficult sharing narrative glory with an inanimate object. Try sharing a small life boat with a feral, adult Bengal Tiger called Richard Parker (puppeted at this performance by Toussaint Jeanlouis, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner; voiced by Ben Durocher when he speaks near the very end.) The majestic beast is truly a force to be reckoned with. Jeanlouis may control the head and all of the breathing, growling, grunting, sounds that Richard Parker emits, but it’s a trifecta of puppetry perfection between Jeanlouis, Goodin, and Gortner, as Richard Parker prowls throughout the performance. The ‘fights’ with paddle-oar and Pi when Richard Parker first tries to mount the boat and again when Pi attempts to ‘tame the tiger’ are nothing short of extraordinary. This trio of sensational puppet-masters make you forget they are there, truly breathing life into this enormous construction that is Richard Parker the Bengal Tiger. Watching this trio move with grace, fluidity, practiced ease, makes every encounter with The Tiger that much more intense. Mandviwala spends a great deal of time engaging with these three as well; the result of which is one catastrophically astonishing theatrical experience.
Man is the most dangerous animal in the zoo. How many nations are there in the sky? Two stories can be true; one ordinary, one extraordinary, which would you prefer? If you wish the extraordinary— Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre has that tale on its stage, launching it’s national tour, with this current production of Life Of Pi, don’t miss your opportunity to take this voyage before it sets sail to another city.
Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes with one intermission
Life of Pi plays through December 15th 2024 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre on the Main Stage of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center- 12 North Eutaw Street Baltimore, MD 21201. For tickets call (410) 837-7400 or purchase them online.
