Presented by the Center Theatre Group as part of the 2025 theatrical season, the impressive drama realizes the seabound complexity of the original with vigorous emotion amid the main character’s desperate struggle to survive.
By John Lavitt
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 05-10-2025
Life of Pi, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti from Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel, is a true delight at the Ahmanson Theatre through June 1, 2025. Directed by Max Webster with remarkable precision and care, the stage production balances bold design with deeply human performances. Indeed, it conveys a spiritual epic without sacrificing the striking immediacy of the story’s extremity. Most significantly, the advanced puppetry not only works: It takes your breath away.
A co-production with the original creative team from the acclaimed West End and Broadway runs, this adaptation uses live puppetry and movement to extraordinary effect. While the 2012 Ang Lee film leaned heavily on CGI and visual effects, the stage version differs. Instead, it relies on breath, sweat, and craft—and it is all the more potent as a result.
Most significantly, Richard Parker, the fearsome Bengal tiger who shares Pi’s lifeboat, represents an achievement of puppetry and theatrical illusion. Designed by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell and choreographed under Caldwell’s direction as Puppet and Movement Director, the creature pulsates with life. It is stunning!
Although the audience observes the mechanics—the hands, the rigging, the movement, and the puppeteers—the achievement still fosters the necessary suspension of disbelief. At one pivotal moment, a roar erupts with such visceral power that the theatre seems to momentarily freeze. It is not a visual trick but a fully embodied theatrical presence.
The supporting animals—from the wounded zebra to the playful orangutan and the vicious hyena—are equally convincing. These puppets do more than mimic life; they inhabit a metaphorical realm where instinct and imagination converge. The combination of controlled choreography and responsive lighting design blurs the line between performer and prop.
Taha Mandviwala delivers a breakout performance in the maelstrom’s center as Pi Patel, the teenage survivor caught in an unimaginable situation. With deft command of rhythm and restraint, Mandviwala conveys Pi’s psychological evolution without overplaying the arc of the storyline. In his hands, the character transforms from a precocious youth into a haunted storyteller with depth and grace.
The ensemble, playing multiple roles, including the puppet operators, serves not as background but as vital components of the story’s rhythm. Their movement through shifting set pieces and emotional landscapes keeps the momentum sharp and dynamic. Moreover, in the story’s present moment, Mi Kang and Alan Ariano do their best to ground PI in human reality.
While Ang Lee’s film adaptation received acclaim, it lacked the tactile urgency that live theatre provides. On stage, the storm feels chaotic, the fear is immediate, and the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker becomes angrier yet more intimate and honest. The absence of digital mediation allows the audience to participate in the creation of meaning in harsh circumstances. The suspension of disbelief becomes an active element in the telling of the play.
Following its run at the Ahmanson Theatre, Life of Pi moves directly to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, with performances scheduled from June 3 to June 15, 2025. For theatre lovers across Southern California, this double engagement offers the opportunity to experience one of the most technically and emotionally accomplished productions of the season in multiple venues.
With its breathtaking puppetry, inspired lead performance, and innovative staging, Life of Pi is more than an adaptation of a novel or a movie. Instead, it is a profound theatrical experience on its own merits. At its core, the play reaffirms what live performance does best: it asks the audience to believe and then rewards that belief with wonder and emotion.
Tickets and information are available at:
LIFE OF PI will be at the Ahmanson Theatre until June 1, 2025.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
LIFE OF PI moves to Segerstrom Hall from June 3-15, 2025.
Photos by Evan Zimmerman Courtesy of the Center Theatre Group
