Yann Martel Archives - North West End UK

28Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Life of Pi – Hull New Theatre

I was almost lost for words - written and vocal - after watching Life of Pi at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. Not a good state for a reviewer to be in. Faced with the question “How do I describe perfection?”, back home, I made myself a coffee, opened a bag of chocolate buttons and got my brain into gear. Life of Pi tells the story of 17-year-old Indian boy, Pi Patel, who, after political disruptions in his homeland, seeks out a new life in Canada, with his family. However, the Tsimtsum, the cargo ship they embark upon, sinks in a terrible Pacific Ocean storm, leaving Pi stranded on a small lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan and a Bengal tiger - animals being transported from his family’s zoo. Pi (the amazing Divesh Subaskaran) loses his family - mother (Goldy Nota...

Life Of Pi – The Lowry

As December arrives the theatre world is taken over by that curiously British institution, The Pantomime. With all its familiar tropes and traditions, it provides much needed distraction for excitable children who have consumed too much sugar over the festive period, as well as harassed parents sorely in need of a family themed distraction. For those who do not delight in such earthy offerings, over the next month the Lyric Theatre will be playing host to the UK and Ireland tour of ' Life of Pi', the West End and Broadway smash hit, providing a cerebral alternative to the tales of beanstalks, slippers and lamps that are available elsewhere. Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel and adapted for the stage by Lolita Chakrabati, 'Life Of Pi' tells the extraordinary story of 17-yea...

Life of Pi – Bradford Alhambra

When Yann Martel wrote the mega selling Life of Pi he probably thought it too technically challenging for it ever to become an Olivier winning play, but thanks to the magic of puppetry this epic tale of one man lost on a raft with only a Bengal Tiger for company really works onstage. Life of Pi was such a hit with over ten million readers worldwide that then U.S. President Barack Obama wrote to Martel describing his novel as ‘an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling.’ Obama didn’t specify which God, although most deities get a namecheck here, and you don’t need to believe in a higher power to enjoy Life of Pi. The former President was spot on about the storytelling as aside from the forest of allegories this is a rip-roaring theatrical experience, albeit one wi...