Life of Pi
(Picture: Getty Images for SOLT)West End show Life Of Pi triumphed at the Olivier Awards scooping a host of top prizes.
The production, based on Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, scooped the best play prize as part of its haul.
The story follows a teenager stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger on board.
Lolita Chakrabarti, who created the stage adaptation, said its success was a “testament to the story” created by Martel, describing it as an “absolute modern classic”.
“His graciousness in giving me the freedom to tell the story as I wanted, he said, ‘I don’t know about theatre, you do what you do and have the book’,” she said.
“I think that understanding of other forms of artistry and his generosity has made the film what it was and the play what it is. It all comes down from his book really.”
The play’s lead, Hiran Abeysekera, was named best actor while the seven actors who play the Tiger shared the best supporting actor prize.
Abeysekera said taking on the role was initially “quite a scary proposition” as the book is so beloved, but said they knew they had “something special” after their first dress run.
While Fred David, one of the seven actors of the Tiger, said during their acceptance speech that this award was “phenomenal” and a “landmark moment in puppetry across the board”.
He added: “Hopefully, it opens the door for more puppets in central roles in theatre in the future.”
Sheila Atim also has picked up the best actress gong for her role as Marianne in Constellations and Liz Carr won the best supporting actress prize for her role in A Normal Heart.
Cabaret was named best musical revival for the production which transformed the West End’s Playhouse Theatre into the Kit Kat Club and starred Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley who were named best actor and best actress in a musical respectively.
The show picked up seven of the 11 prizes it was nominated for including best musical revival while Liza Sadovy won best supporting actress in a musical for her role in the show while Elliot Levey won best supporting actor in a musical.
Rebecca Frecknall was named best director for her helming of the production, which also won the best sound gong.
The celebration of London theatre, opera and dance came back to the Royal Albert Hall for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the country’s theatres weeks before the scheduled 2020 Oliviers show.
Kit Harington, Tom Felton, Emma Corrin and Jonathan Pryce were among the stars who walked the sustainable green carpet, made from reusable grass, before the glitzy, music-filled ceremony.
