Life of Pi is Immersive and Emotional
–by Ashley Cox
Autumn in St. Louis means cooler weather, Eckert’s apple cider donuts, and the start of the 2025-2026 “The Magic of Broadway” season at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. The multiple Tony and Olivier award winning play, Life of Pi, is an intense visual and emotional experience about teenage Pi’s survival after the container ship carrying his family and their zoo animals sinks. Based on Yan Martel’s book with the same title, he must share a small lifeboat with wild animals while grappling with emotions such as grief, loss of faith, and the wonders that still exist in the world.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, I was fortunate to attend a moderated panel to further discuss the story and truly magical use of puppetry to bring Black and White, Orange Juice, and the Olivier award winning Richard Parker to life. Look out for our article posted later this week where I will discuss some behind the scenes facts of the puppetry and how these artists bring them to life.
I was so impressed by the physicality of all the entire company. Taha Mandviwala plays the titular Pi and emotes the fear and wonder felt by Pi through his entire being. The puppeteers and ensemble cast have to contort their bodies to fit animalistic poses for the roughly 2 hour running time. Although there are always many people on stage and the location bounces between the hospital in Mexico and the lifeboat, the play is intimate. Taha referred to it as true “kitchen sink drama.” Richard Parker is not perceived as a foam form moved by three actors but his own entity: a wild Bengal tiger on the stage.
Midway through the second act, the stage lights went on and the house announced a technical issue needed to stop the play. After a roughly 20-minute delay, the show restarted but it was apparent the center turntable for the lifeboat was no longer working. The projected visual effects on the water splashing around the boat no longer lined up but it did not remove any of the immersion from the play. Truly the cast could have provided just as a beautiful experience with the bare stage.
It would not be a post-Covid play without a brief talk about etiquette. Please do not get ripping drunk at a play, musical, ballet, or other cultural event. It is not a bar crawl. No one wants to listen to obscenity-laced rant about ‘whatever’ during the intermission. While I love that I no longer have to dress to the nines to go to the theatre, we still need a level of social decorum. Theatre should be an accessible and safe space.
Life of Pi brought me to tears multiple times, it made me laugh, it made me rethink aspects of spirituality and our connection with nature and each other. It runs through the 19th so you have plenty of chances to attend. Visit the Fox website to learn more about ASL and audio described dates and to purchase tickets.
Other upcoming shows at the Fox include STL native, Nikki Glaser for her Alive and Unwell tour and the next Broadway series is another musical based on a best-selling novel and movie, The Notebook.