'Life of Pi' reminds us what we're living for

“Life of Pi” is the story of an unlikely young hero who fights against the odds to survive and uncovers a ferociousness inside himself along the way. I highly recommend attending the show’s run at the Wharton Center and bringing a friend so you can repeatedly whisper “wow” to each other. The critically acclaimed 2001 book was adapted into a movie in 2012, then a stage play in 2019. It opened on Broadway in 2023, and its 2025 debut at Wharton feels superbly timed.

The world of Pi Patel is gorgeous, brought to life through incredible puppeteered creatures, from schools of fish to Richard Parker, the famous Bengal tiger. I found the show stirring, with more (puppet) violence than I expected, and I was blown away by the physicality of the actors. 

The show is moving, following a boy who loses his family in a shipwreck as they’re immigrating from India to Canada. The show is also moving, as in the entire stage is constantly in motion as life and death change everything without warning. The story is about immigrants who fled unrest, and it includes a powerful image I don’t see enough of in my day-to-day world: A little brown boy who fights back and ultimately wins, who is brave and ferocious, who defies the odds and survives. He is not without scars, but he lives.

I won’t go back to the author’s intent for the book in 2001. I can only watch the show where I am today, within the first 100 days of the new presidential administration. Amid the backdrop of a powerful and so far unceasing wave of incredible changes, I marveled at the show’s relevance and timeliness. On Wikipedia, “Life of Pi” is called a fantasy novel, but in 2025, it is more like a manual for how to survive when the world is falling apart around you.  

As the ship is sinking, everything on stage is suspended for a moment. Then comes Patel’s terrifyingly hard work of staying above the water. This story, in this time, in our place at the Wharton Center, is an opportunity to process together, to experience another perspective and reflect on our own. It is a chance to remind ourselves that smart, beautiful pieces of art are something that makes life worth living and fighting for, ferociously.