"Life of Pi" play brings new adaptation of iconic tale to Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Next week, "Life of Pi" opens its first-ever stop in Colorado, as the show plays the Buell Theatre in Denver. The play brings a new adaptation to a story which has already seen great success in print and on the screen. 

"Life of Pi was a book written in 2005 by Yann Martel, which has seen a lot of adaptations across its life," said Taha Mandviwala, the lead actor in the tour.

The story follows the journey of a boy from India who was raised at a zoo. His family flees the country due to political unrest, taking their exotic animals with them on a boat.

"There are many differences between the book and the stage production," said Jon Hoche, one of the directors of the tour.

The story follows the boy's survival journey after the boat he was on crashes, leaving him stranded on a life raft with several exotic animals.

"Translating page to stage, and the discrepancy between the book and the stage play, is understanding the shift in audience," Mandviwala said. "When you have a book, there is a lot more room for nuance, there is a lot more room for details and there is a lot more time to let that marinate."

However, the live production coming to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts requires the show to be transformed into a two hour stage play.

Without giving away the specifics of the show, it is important to note that it is told in a different order than that of the book. For example, details that were left toward the end of the book are what the play opens with.

"There are a lot of creative liberties that are involved in this," Mandviwala said.

"It is like nothing else (audiences) have seen on stage. It has the epic scale of a musical but the heart of a kitchen sink drama," Hoche said. "It has really become this global phenomenon that the book and movie did as well."

Life of Pi plays the Buell Theatre March 18 through 30. For more information on tickets visit denvercenter.org/tickets-events/life-of-pi/.

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