CASTING has been announced for the Olivier-Award winning production Life of Pi, which visits Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre from October 17 to 21 October on its first tour of the UK and Ireland.

Divesh Subaskaran stars in his professional debut as the central role of Pi, alongside an extraordinary life-size puppeteered Bengal tiger.

Divesh will be joined by Antony Antunes, Bhawna Bhawsar, Ralph Birtwell and Kriss Dosanjh.

Based on Yann Martel’s best-selling and award-winning novel, Life of Pi is a breath-taking new theatrical adaptation of an epic journey of endurance and hope.

After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there are five survivors stranded on a single lifeboat – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, a 16-year-old boy and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive?

A European tour will follow the tour of the UK and Ireland and there are plans underway for a tour of Australia and Asia.

Life of Pi won five Olivier Awards in April 2022. As well as Best New Play, and Best Actor for Hiran Abeysekera (the original Pi); in an historic first for the Olivier Awards - the seven performers who puppeteer the Tiger ‘Richard Parker’ were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The production also picked up awards for set (Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell), and lighting design (Tim Lutkin and Andrzej Goulding).

The Cardiff shows, which are suitable for those aged eight-plus, are at 7.30pm Tuesday to Saturday with 2.30pm performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Tickets are from £19 and are available at www.wmc.org.uk/en/whats-on/2023/life-of-pi