Life of Pi announces UK & Ireland tour following West End run

Life of Pi is to head on a UK & Ireland tour following its West End run.

The play, adapted from the Yann Martel novel of the same name is currently playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre.

The stage version, which premiered in Sheffield in 2019, will play its final performance on 15 January 2023 before touring from next summer.

Sheffield will play host to the opening of the tour, running from 29 August – 16 September 2023 at the Lyceum Theatre, ahead of visits to Milton Keynes Theatre, Norwich Theatre Royal, Southend Cliffs Pavillion, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, Chichester Festival Theatre, The Lowry, Salford, Bristol Hippodrome, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Theatre Royal Brighton, Birmingham Hippodrome, GrandOpera House, Belfast, Bord Gais Theatre, Dublin, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Curve Leicester, Hull New Theatre, Coventry Belgrade, Nottingham Theatre Royal, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Liverpool Empire, Severn Theatre Shrewsbury, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, Glasgow Theatre Royal, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Leeds Grand Theatre and finally Derngate Theatre in Northampton in July 2024.

Following the sinking of a cargo ship that leaves just five survivors, we are taken to the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean where they are stranded on a single lifeboat. A sixteen-year-old boy along with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a hungry Bengal tiger are left at the mercy of nature, who is harsh and forgiving.

Time is against them and they have one mission; to survive. Like the book and the 2012 film of the same name, it is an epic adventure full of hope, that tests their endurance and pushes their limits.

Tickets for the remaining dates in the West End are on sale here.

The show is adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti with direction by Max Webster, puppet design by Tim Hatley and Finn Caldwell of Gyre and Gimble and Nick Barnes, lighting by Tim Lutkin, composition by Andrew Mackay, sound by Carolyn Downing, video by Andrzej Goulding and original casting by Polly Jerrold.

Casting for the tour is to be announced.

Lolita Chakrabarti said: “It is incredible to begin this tour at Sheffield Theatres, where Life of Pi began its journey, and to start the tour across the country from this great city. It has been an extraordinary year in the West End and the success of the play has been both a privilege and a delight – from all the amazing awards to the standing ovations we get every night.

“It is testament to Yann Martel’s beautiful and moving story. I am so grateful for his trust and generosity in sharing it with me and allowing our amazing creative team to tell his story our way.”