Review: He's Not in Pondicherry Anymore

“Life of Pi,” Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, May 6 – June 1, 2025

By Bruce R. Feldman | May 14, 2025

In Brief: Whether you think of it as a play with music, a ballet of sorts with a spoken text, or the most extraordinary puppet show you’ve ever seen, Life of Pi is enchanting entertainment that will delight both adults and children.

Taha Mandviwala as Pi with Anna Leigh Gortner, Shiloh Goodin, and Toussaint Jeanlouis as Richard Parker the tiger in Life of Pi (Photo: Evan Zimmerman)

Life of Pi recounts the story of a young Indian boy who survives a shipwreck and spends 227 days adrift at sea on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger before washing up on a beach in Mexico – a yarn so improbable that officials investigating the incident struggle to find out what really happened.

As the Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaption of Yann Martel’s 2001 bestselling novel opens, Piscine Molitor Patel – who calls himself Pi – lives in Pondicherry where his father is the manager of a zoo. Pi is an inquisitive child eager to explore to all of life’s possibilities. For example, he explains that while raised as a Hindu, he’s been investigating Islam and Christianity and resolves to become a follower of all three religions.

One day the father attempts to give the precocious boy a harsh dose of reality by having him watch as the family’s beloved pet goat is fed to the zoo’s ferocious Bengal Tiger. The beast bears the name of Richard Parker, the result of a clerical error that switched the names of the tiger and its human captor.

When Indira Ghandi comes to power and suspends civil liberties in India, Pi’s family and zoo animals board a freighter headed for Canada. The ship capsizes in a brutal storm. Pi finds himself on the lifeboat with Richard Parker, an orangutan, a zebra, and a hyena.

Things are not looking up for him.

This extended middle section forms the heart of Martel and Chakrabarti’s fantastical tale and director Max Webster's vigorous production. Pi must overcome multiple physical challenges, as well as ponder a host of spiritual quandries.

In short order, the hyena eats the zebra and orangutan. Then Richard Parker kills the hyena. Pi must contend with the harsh elements and, most importantly, get along with the tiger for the duration.

Pi’s adventure is told in a lyrical, often thrilling fashion using extensive choreographed movement and stunning puppetry throughout, except in the opening and closing expository scenes in which the investigators test the boy’s story.

The animals are depicted as nonrepresentational, full-sized figures, memorably brought to life on stage by an ensemble of talented puppeteers. The program notes that Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell designed the puppets to mimic the bone structure of each animal, so that the movement would feel natural as the puppeteers maneuvered them.

Caldwell also created the expressive choreography for both the puppets and the show’s large ensemble.

Taha Mandviwala plays Pi with loads of winning charm. He holds the center firmly as the puppets and dancers swirl around him and the supporting characters weave in and out of the narrative.

While the exquisite puppetry and striking stagecraft would still impress, the play wouldn’t be as effective without his authoritative performance, especially as he’s on stage for the show’s entire running time.

“Life of Pi,” Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 628-2772, www.centertheatregroup.org