Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of Life of Pi, starring an extraordinary life-size puppeteered Bengal Tiger today confirms that it will follow its year-long UK and Ireland tour with an international tour.
Engagements begin at the Royal Theater Carré in Amsterdam in August 2024, where it plays from 28 August – 8 September 2024, followed by engagements internationally.
Earlier this year, the spellbinding show made its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater where it opened on 9 March 2023 and – having opened to celebratory reviews – added three Tony Awards to its impressive number of trophies, scooping Best Scenic Design of a Play (Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding) and Best Lighting Design of a Play (Tim Lutkin) and Best Sound Design of a Play (Carolyn Downing) at the 2023 awards.
Life of Pi won five Olivier Awards in April 2022. As well as Best New Play, and Best Actor for Hiran Abeysekera (the original Pi); in a historic first for the Olivier Awards – the seven performers who puppeteer the Tiger ‘Richard Parker’ were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The production also picked up awards for set (Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell), and lighting design (Tim Lutkin and Andrzej Goulding).
Of the production’s international extension, Producer, Simon Friend says: “We have been enormously grateful for, and excited by, the interest in Life of Pi by theatres internationally. While our show will encounter many different cultures on its travels, this wonderful story which celebrates human resilience against adversity is entirely universal. It also seems that lots of people love puppets.”
Life of Pi, which concluded its West End run on 15 January 2023, first opened to critical acclaim at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 2019. Previous international commitments for the show include its North American Premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University where it ran from 4 December 2022 to 29 January 2023, followed by its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater where it opened on 9 March 2024.
The production is Directed by Max Webster, Set and Costume Designer is Tim Hatley, the Puppet Designers are Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, the Puppet and Movement Director is Finn Caldwell, the Video Designer is Andrzej Goulding, the Lighting Designer is Tim Lutkin, the Sound Designer is Carolyn Downing, the Composer is Andrew T Mackay, Dramaturgy is by Jack Bradley, the Casting Director is Polly Jerrold, the Associate Director is Leigh Toney, the Associate Puppetry and Movement Director is Scarlet Wilderink, the Associate Set Designer is Ross Edwards, the Associate Puppet Designer is Caroline Bowman, the Costume Supervisor is Sabrina Cuniberto and the Props Supervisor is Ryan O’Conner.
Based on one of the best-loved works of fiction – winner of the Man Booker Prize, selling over fifteen million copies worldwide – Life of Pi is a breath-taking new theatrical adaptation of an epic journey of endurance and hope.
Further information can be found here www.lifeofpionstage.com
