Life of Pi comes to Birmingham theatre
Beginning its first tour of the UK and Ireland at the Sheffield 's Lyceum theatre this August 2023, Life of Pi comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday 12 to Saturday 17 February 2024. Divesh Subaskaran is confirmed to make his professional debut in the central role of Pi.
Simon Friend Entertainment announced casting for Lolita Chakrabarti 's Olivier Award-winning stage adaption of Yann Martel 's best-selling novel Life of Pi, starring an extraordinary life-size puppeteered Bengal Tiger.
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. International commitments for the show include its North American Premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, followed by its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. A European tour will follow the tour of the UK and Ireland and there are plans underway for a tour of Australia and Asia.
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 an 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).
Opening to celebratory reviews on Broadway in March the production is nominated for five Tony Awards in the following categories: Best Direction (Max Webster), Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. This year 's awards will be held on 12th June (01.00 BST).
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.
After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, there are 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?
Life of Pi comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from Birmingham Hippodrome Monday 12 - Saturday 17 February 2024. Tickets can be booked at www.birminghamhippodrome.com or by calling 0844 338 5000*
*0844 calls will cost you 4.5p per minute plus your phone company 's access charge.
Life of Pi is produced by Simon Friend in association with Playing Field and Tulchin/Bartner.
Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz