Award-winning West End show Life of Pi will head to Salford next year as The Lowry Theatre's big festive production in December. The show is based on Yann Martel's best-selling novel and features an extraordinary life-sized Bengal Tiger.
It will begin its first ever tour across the UK and Ireland from August 2023. That will include the extended festive run at The Lowry from December 5 2023 through to January 6.
Based on one of the best-loved works of fiction – which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide – Life of Pi is billed as a breath-taking new theatrical adaptation of an epic journey of endurance and hope.
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The story follows a cargo ship that sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, with five survivors stranded on a single lifeboat – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, a sixteen year-old boy and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive?
The animals are all brought to life through the extraordinary skills of puppeteers, with a team who have previously worked on the acclaimed War Horse play. Audiences have been left bewitched by the way the production brings them all to life on stage.
Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling Olivier Award winning stage adaption of Life of Pi is currently running at Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End. But the tour will start in Sheffield, where the production first premiered to critical accalaim back in 2019.
Lolita said: "It is incredible to begin this tour at Sheffield Theatres, where Life of Pi began its journey, and to start the tour across the country from this great city. It has been an extraordinary year in the West End and the success of the play has been both a privilege and a delight - from all the amazing awards to the standing ovations we get every night.
"It is testament to Yann Martel’s beautiful and moving story. I am so grateful for his trust and generosity in sharing it with me and allowing our amazing creative team to tell his story our way."
Life of Pi was awarded five Olivier Awards in April 2022. As well as Best New Play, and Best Actor for Hiran Abeysekera (the original Pi); in an historic first for the Olivier Awards - the seven performers who played ‘Richard Parker’ the puppet tiger – 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). Casting for the new production has not yet been announced.
The extraordinary animals are brought to life by Puppet & Movement Director Finn Caldwell, who began his career in the original company of the National Theatre’s international phenomenon War Horse. He is the Artistic Director of his own company Gyre & Gimble.
Life of Pi will be at The Lowry in the Lyric Theatre from 5 December 2023 – 6 January 2024. it goes on presale to Lowry members on Thursday 1 Dec, and on General on sale on Monday 5 Dec via The Lowry's website here
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