Video: Go Inside Rehearsals for LIFE OF PI in Toronto

Get a sneak peek behind the scenes at rehearsals for Life of Pi. Cast members Peter Twose and Riya Rajeev talk about the fantastic puppets that are used in the production, including how they watched footage of real tigers to study their movements.

Lolita Chakrabarti's multi Olivier and Tony Award-winning stage adaptation of Life of Pi, based on Canadian author Yann Martel's best-selling and Man Booker Prize-winning novel, will make its Canadian Premiere in only 4 weeks. Life of Pi will play the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre beginning performances on September 3 through October 6, 2024. Toronto is the only Canadian city where theatregoers can experience this extraordinary show. 

Tickets are available now at mirvish.com or by calling 1.800.461.3333. 

The production that will play Toronto comes from the UK and features some of the Olivier-Award-winning actors who starred in the play's original London West End production. The cast, many of whom are of South Asian descent, includes veteran actors with credits across the spectrum of UK theatre, from small companies to the National and the RSC; to actors just beginning their careers. 

Starring in the title role is Divesh Subaskaran. A recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, this is his professional debut. 

Also starring are:  Kazeem Tosin Amore (Cook), Antony Antunes (Tiger Hind/Cook/Father Martin), Bhawna Bhawsar (Leela Chen/Mrs Biology Kumar), Ameet Chana (Father), Fred Davis (Tiger Head), Daisy Franks (Tiger Heart/Hind), Akash Heer (Tiger Head), Katie Kennedy-Rose (Tiger Heart/Hind), Aizah Khan (Tiger Heart/Hind), Chand Martinez (Mamaji/Pandit-Ji/Admiral Balbir Singh), Mohit Mathur (Ensemble), Mark Matthews (Tiger Hind), Goldy Notay (Amma), Riya Rajeev (Rani), Kate Rowsell (Tiger Heart/Hind), Lilian Tsang (Mrs Okamoto/Mrs Khan/Ship's Captain), Peter Twose (Tiger Head/Cook/Father Martin), and Vinesh Veerasami (Russian Sailor). 

Martel's extraordinary story of family, resilience and survival and the natural world was made into an Oscar-winning film in 2012. This breath-taking theatrical adaptation is a natural evolution for the source, as it utilizes the communal power of live storytelling and imagination, two of the other central themes of the original novel. 

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? 

The production is directed by Max Webster, Set and Costume Designer is Tim Hatley, the Puppet Designers are Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, the Puppet and Movement Director is Finn Caldwell, the Video Designer is Andrzej Goulding, the Lighting Designer is Tim Lutkin, the Sound Designer is Carolyn Downing, the Composer is Andrew T Mackay, Dramaturgy is by Jack Bradley, the Casting Director is Polly Jerrold, the Associate Director is Leigh Toney, the Associate Puppetry and Movement Director is Scarlet Wilderink, the Associate Set Designer is Ross Edwards, the Associate Puppet Designer is Caroline Bowman,  the Costume Supervisor is Sabrina Cuniberto and the Props Supervisor is Ryan O'Conner.      

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