A.R.T. Guide: Winter 2022/23 Edition

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The Wife of Willesden
Life of Pi

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A.R.T. Guide

Artistic Director’s Welcome

WELCOME TO THE WINTER 2022/23 GUIDE

We are delighted that Life of Pi and The Wife of Willesden are both making their North American debuts at A.R.T. this winter.

Both pieces are adaptations. Life of Pi brings Yann Martel’s 2001 novel to thrilling new life on stage with breathtaking design and awe-inspiring puppetry. Adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Max Webster, this Olivier Award-winning production continues to captivate audiences in London’s West End. It has been an immense pleasure to welcome Life of Pi’s creative team, and to assemble this new company in Boston, where they have been immersed in the creative process of bringing this show to new life at the Loeb Drama Center.

Beginning performances in February, The Wife of Willesden reimagines a section of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales as a collection of contemporary pub stories. Directed by Indhu Rubasingham, this piece marks the first work for the stage by acclaimed novelist Zadie Smith. Drawing especially on Chaucer’s “Tale of the Wife of Bath,” The Wife of Willesden celebrates the power of storytelling to bring communities together. The production comes to us from Kiln Theatre, an internationally renowned institution located in the heart of Brent—the most culturally diverse borough in the city of London.

It’s a great joy to share these productions, which both speak to the power and magic of storytelling. Read on in this Guide for more information about these works, including creative team interviews and reflections by Yann Martel and Zadie Smith. Thank you so much for joining us. See you at the theater!

Diane Paulus
Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director

The Wife of Willesden

Zadie Smith in a polka dot blouse and brown head-wrap talking while seated.

In the Rehearsal Room

Zadie Smith on the process of bringing Chaucer’s Wife of Bath to life in contemporary London.

A woodcut of the Wife of Bath in purple and pink against a green background

An Excerpt from “The Wife of Bath: A Biography”

The Wife of Bath is one of only a handful of literary characters—others include Odysseus, Dido, Penelope, and King Arthur—whose life has continued far beyond their earliest textual appearances.

Troy Glasgow in a white T-shirt and thin chain dances with Clare Perkins in a red dress.

Tell Her Tale: On the Many Lives of Chaucer’s Leading Lady

Perhaps authors keep returning to the Wife of Bath because, like Falstaff, she is herself a brilliant storyteller; she offers a space for thinking about the meaning of authorship, about who gets to tell stories, about whose stories get told.

A screenshot of Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website in the early 2000s, showing a portrait of Chaucer surrounded by hyperlinks to areas of the website.

Chaucer Online

“Geoffrey Chaucer” is an unlikely name to find in the vanguard of the digital humanities, but there’s an unheralded story that puts him there, thanks to a Harvard professor’s labor of love.

Jessica Murrain in a colorful head wrap, tortoiseshell glasses, and burgundy corduroy jumpsuit sitting at a small table motioning to a laptop on it.

The Wife of Willesden and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath

Female characters in medieval literature were more usually princesses or virginal damsels; nuns or saints; witches or prostitutes. But the Wife of Bath was different—she was a middle-class, middle-aged, sexually active woman.

Adi Dixit stands on a bed yelling with his arms in the air while Rowan Magee, Celia Mei Rubin, and Nikki Calonge

A note from novelist Yann Martel

It’s a strange business, adapting a novel. Words, after all, have just that right variable mix of the nebulous and the precise.

Unexpected Places: In Conversation with Lolita Chakrabarti

Reflecting on the process of adapting Yann Martel’s novel for the stage, Chakrbarti says, “My job as adapter in this case is to leave space for your view.”

Max Webster lying on the ground in front of an open script between cast members sitting on the ground.

Something That’s Alive

Director Max Webster on Pi, puppets, and the magic of storytelling.

Rowan Magee manipulates the head of the tiger puppet while Celia Mei Rubin holds up its torso.

Evolution of a Tiger

Puppeteer Kate Brehm spoke with Life of Pi’s Puppetry Design & Directing Team about their work on the show.

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