The theatrical performance of The Life of Pi is now showing at a west end theatre. The beloved novel has successfully been brought to life on the stage using clever staging, lighting, props and animation. The circular stage features an oversized lifeboat which rises up from the centre and swirls around giving the effective illusion that it is floating in turbulent seas. The sound and light effects extraordinarily convey rain storms, sunny days and starry nights. The stage around the boat has hidden covered openings which the actors jump into and disappear making it seem that they are jumping into water.

The most impressive part of the production though, has to be the way that the animals have been portrayed. A couple of people are each responsible for the movement and noises of the main animals using just their own bodies along with articulated props. There is a zebra, orangutan, hyena and the main character, Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger.

The story is about a family travelling with their zoo from India to resettle in America but encounter a bad storm at sea whereupon the ship sinks. The only survivors are the young boy, his mother, the chef and kind sea captain. Each character is given an animal representation by the young boy and uses their traits to best explain his time in the lifeboat. The audience is left wondering if the survivors were people or really the animals themselves.

Emma Maughan says 'the theatrical representation of this story is excellent and one hundred percent evokes the same emotion and wonderment as the book and film before it'. I agree with this statement as I too, as i'm sure like everyother audience memeber, walked about of the theatre in awe and sentiment. A phenominal production everyone must see.