Choose the Better Story: A Life of Pi on Stage Review
Michael and I attended the Life of Pi stage play that was at Albany’s Proctors theatre recently. Both of us have never read the book or experienced the film, so we did not know what to expect; and we were blown away by the incredible portrayal of the memories of a teenager who survived a terrible shipwreck. The stage production of the play whisked all of us in the audience on a magical adventure from a rural zoo in India to the seas near Manilla to the shores of Mexico; all taking place between 1976-1978. Though as I found out, it is a fiction story by Yann Martel.
Perusing the backstory and interviews of Mr. Martel led to some interesting revelations that I will divulge throughout my review. While it is a fictional novel, there are elements of historical notes and fascinating stories that were discovered from the author as he began writing.
The play opens up in a Mexican hospital in 1978, with our star character, Pi Patel, hiding underneath a bed while a nurse, social worker, and an investigator walk into the room. The investigator, Mr. Okamoto, was involved with the Japanese Ministry of Transport, tasked with trying to figure out what happened during the shipwreck and who was responsible. Pi Patel was the only survivor. After a bit of struggle to get Pi Patel to open up and trust the visitors, he starts to begin to tell his story, starting in India, at a zoo owned by the Patel family.
He leads the audience on an explanation of all the animals under their care, from monkeys, hyenas, goats, and a tiger (more on the tiger later). We also learn that his full name is Piscine Molitor Patel, where the first name was given to him by his father who loved swimming pools”, as “Piscine” translates to swimming pools in French. Given an unfortunate nickname in his early childhood, he goes by “Pi” instead. He offers insight on the antagonism of zoos and expresses his thoughts on why animals react less negatively than proponents of the idea suggest. His heart and care for animals is incredibly uplifting, which is why a scene involving a goat and a tiger was truly horrific.
His father found Pi playing around inside the cage of the new exhibit of a Royal Bengal Tiger, named Richard Parker. In order to show the dangers of tigers, he orchestrates the release of a goat into the tiger’s cage, knowing that the carnivorous instincts will be on display for his children to watch. The father’s children are horrified, of course, especially given their care and concern for all the animals in the zoo. And Pi’s reaction to the dismal display of carnivorous aggression by the tiger was pure anger. He had fond memories of taking care of the goat that the tiger ate so quickly.
The tiger’s name, Richard Parker, was one of the fascinating tidbits gleamed from the authors interviews. He delved deep into three curious real-life stories involving shipwrecks. The first was a legal case known as R v Dudley and Stephens, which involves the cannibalism of a cabin boy named Richard Parker on a lifeboat. The second involved another cabin boy cannibalized during an incident involving the same ship in 1835, Francis Spaight. The last curious revelation about the name Richard Parker involved Edgar Allan Poe’s novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, written in 1838, which had a mutineer, sharing his name, who is stranded and eventually cannibalized on the hull of an overturned ship; and there is a dog aboard who is named Tiger.
The significance of three stories, both real and fiction, involving a Richard Parker and a shipwreck is pretty crazy. Mr. Martel stated in an interview, “So many Richard Parkers had to mean something.” The human trait of finding significance of patterns is truly a marvel to witness. There are countless novels and movies involving the good and bad of finding patterns in the world. Mr. Martel’s use of the name after discovering these amazing parallels in history certainly illuminates the wonders of our world, even in the tiniest, overlooked details.
Back to Pi’s story, India starts to change radically with political uprising and riots. The family attempts to move the zoo elsewhere, but their visas keep getting denied. The mother, Amma, helps to keep stability during this time, helping to provide a sense of normalcy as her husband continues to find a way to move out of India with their zoo. At this point, Pi learns about other religions outside of his native Hindu in his family. He would attend Christian church prayers, Jewish synagogues, and Muslim mosques, which eventually led to a rather intense but funny question from Pi.
When the members of these three religions find out that he has been involved in all the local religious gatherings, they question him as to which one was his priority. His own mother also has the same question. Pi’s response was exceptionally thoughtful, intelligent, and illuminating. He says, “I’ve been thinking a lot about Death. Does it really matter if [we go] to heaven, the afterlife or reincarnated? You’re asking me to pick the better story. Why do I have to choose? Aren’t they just versions of the same thing?”
This response led to exasperated gasps by the religious members, but there was no time to talk further since the Patel family’s visas were approved and they were about to embark to Canada with their zoo. Given that the author is from Canada, that certainly makes sense that he would have the characters head there. As the animals are moved into shipping crates and moved aboard a ship, the reality that they were leaving India and heading to Canada started to immerge. Pi’s sister, Rani, has a conversion with her aunt about transferring to the University of Toronto and her exciting future as an engineer.
The other reality of being on a shipping freight ship was the lack of vegetarian options, something that the whole family was surprised to learn. Unfortunately, they do not have much time as the following scene involves the terrifying shipwreck, as Pi is separated from his family, leading to him being stranded on a small boat in the vast sea.
And this is where the play begins an experience of transformative divergence. Pi tells the story of his survival of him out in the sea with some of the zoo animals onboard of his small boat, and then later, tells the story of his survival involving his mother and two crewmates. The philosophical question that Pi tells the investigator near the end of the stories is, “So tell me, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?”
The story of Pi’s survival after a shipwreck, whether with animals or humans, is a journey of self-discovery, perseverance, survival strategies, and spiritual guidance. The power of humanity against the odds is a story that is well known and has a long history; it’s the reason why we are all still here on this Earth, living our lives. We owe everything to our past ancestors for surviving so many tumultuous events throughout history. And while the story of Pi is fictional, it is profoundly universal and important to always remember.
I do have one final thought about this story. Something quite personal that connects my own life with Mr. Martel’s story, and it involves the tiger. Growing up, my grandparent’s home was filled with dozens of beautiful tiger photographs on their living room walls. And a few in the guest bathroom; sometimes causing terror when closing the door and seeing a ferocious tiger staring back. As I grew up, I had almost forgotten that connection to tigers until my husband gifted a stuffed tiger to me on our first date.
The connection of tigers in my life was recently apparent and heartwarming when my grandfather passed away last October. And the new addition of a collar to this stuffed tiger with a picture of my grandfather, Charles Palladino Sr., was on display in my arms at Proctor’s, as Michael and I enjoyed watching Life of Pi. Those that we lose will always be there in spirit, as Pi’s story tells us.
