It’s not to the detriment of the show’s high-minded themes, but it is uncomfortably — if perhaps not always intentionally — resonant. The touring Broadway adaptation of the 2001 novel, which plays Denver’s Buell Theatre through March 30, blends philosophy, puppetry and brutal survival in a way that feels both unapologetic and surreal.

It’s a bold take on fleeing one’s home for a better life across the sea — in this case Canada, where “Life of Pi” author Yann Martel spent some time growing up — and the ways in which corrosive politics and violence drive global realignment.

Our teenage hero Pi Patel (played by Taha Mandviwala) is the pin-drop on the stage’s square map, central in his white-roomed recovery bed, his family’s colorful zoo, his town’s bustling market, and eventually his lifeboat. Set elements and props whirl around him like exploded technical drawings, their always-visible human operators acting as a stage presence in their own right.

After batting off questions from a pair of Japanese investigators who meet Pi in his recovery room in Mexico, we flash back to a whirlwind origin that sets up his 227 days at sea, following a shipwreck that kills his family and most of the animals they’re toting across the Pacific Ocean from India.

As setup, we witness the inexorable decline of Pi’s family’s zoo due to off-stage riots and social unrest in 1970s India. As Pi’s father, Sorab Wadia walks a fine line between paternal caricature and nuanced concern for his kids as he protects threatened butterflies, birds, hyenas, a giraffe and, as is soon established, a Bengal tiger with the absurd name of Richard Parker.

In a market setting that surprise-pops out of the set’s walls, Pi is confronted by choices as Catholic, Muslim and Hindu forces swirl to convert him. His years-long search for truth yields a lot of striking dialogue, and it’s comforting to see his family depicted as people with functional relationships who support him despite their disagreements.

Still, as Pi says, “I am not easy to explain.” His tests of faith and constant proclamations are handled with care by Lolita Chakrabarti, whose writing for the stage feels as wide open and visceral as the 2012 film. But under the direction of Ashley Brooke Monroe, it also often feels like Mandviwala is sprinting from one mark to the next, delivering his lines at a high, ragged volume that flattens their dynamic themes.

It lends a vigor that masks the play’s two-hour runtime (yes, it’s a play, not a musical) and one can only imagine how exhausted Mandviwala is at the end of each committed performance. There’s also a strange poetry to watching certain animals “die” as their human operators leave the stage. It’s a metaphor for the way the soul animates our bodies, or doesn’t, and an acknowledgment that descriptive literary devices and CGI don’t have to translate perfectly to theater (minus the animated projection mapping that takes us through both Pi’s mind and his watery adventures).

After surviving the shipwreck, Pi’s joy, humor and despair turn on a dime as his lifeboat is beset by surviving animals — a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan named Orange Juice, and our Royal Bengal tiger. That last one, which stalks and growls realistically thanks to a trio of stunningly talented puppeteers, acts as both antagonist and doppelgänger to Pi. He persists despite sharing his craft with these animals, which are whittled down by Richard Parker until it’s just him and Pi.

The seafaring portion of the show feels like a host of practical, creative problem-solving that unfortunately can crowd the stage with puppeteers. They send fish, zoo animals and shipwreck flotsam across the set, occasionally carrying Pi over their heads to symbolize his drifting. Instead of hiding them, the show lets you get used to them — not by fading into the background, but by putting their naked artistry on display.

It’s saying something that the depictions of animal violence, desperation and death feel documentary-style, despite their highly symbolic rendering. Of course, this rightly Tony-winning “Life of Pi” boasts roundly strong performances, a propulsive and cinematic look, and plenty of thoughtful one-liners that interrogate faith and the choices we make to survive.

But be prepared to leave the theater with an unsettled feeling, as this “Life of Pi” poses the question: “What can we do when truth is slippery, and life-changing events are mostly out of our control?” and answers with “Not much.”

If you go

“The Life of Pi.” Touring Broadway play in Denver through March 30 at Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Buell Theatre, 1350 Curtis St. in Denver. Some scenes contain simulated violence and flashing lights. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Tickets: $46-$109.25 via denvercenter.org

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

The shows, which DCPA announced Monday, join new and returning titles for the regional market such as “MJ,” “Hadestown,” The Lion King,” “Beetlejuice,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Sound of Music” (see below for the full list).

“The (new) Broadway season is full of spellbinding, spine-tingling (and slightly corny) hits, and we can’t wait to see you at the theater,” wrote John Ekeberg, executive director of DCPA Broadway and Cabaret, in a statement.

At this point, the show announcements are aimed at subscribers, with tickets available at denvercenter.org. Single tickets will go on sale to the public later, DCPA officials said. They also announced an auto-renew feature for current subscribers that Ekeberg said will save them the trouble of re-subscribing every year, or else potentially “losing their favorite seats or their DCPA subscriber perks.”

The crowd-pleasing lineup is entirely intentional, DCPA leaders have said, with classics such as “The Sound of Music” sitting comfortably next to newer works such as the acclaimed “Hadestown.” Last season featured a similar mix, including comfort-food shows “Hamilton,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Mamma Mia!” alongside the national tour launch of “Kimberly Akimbo” and other new bookings.

The new season — which takes place at the Buell Theatre and other venues at the Denver Performing Arts Complex — is divided into subscription shows and added attractions, as DCPA calls them, with DCPA Cabaret shows (i.e., this year’s locally produced “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors”) as part of the full subscription package.

Here’s the complete list:

DCPA 2025-26 Broadway season

“Bluebird Improv with Tim Meadows, Matt Walsh, Brad Morris and Joe Canale”
May 16-18, 2025 (Garner Galleria Theatre)

“Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song”
May 28-June 29, 2025 (Garner Galleria)

“Dixie’s Tupperware Party”
July 16-Aug. 17, 2025 (Garner Galleria)

“Dixie’s Never Wear a Tube Top While Riding a Mechanical Bull …”
Aug. 20-Sept. 7, 2025 (Garner Galleria)

“Shucked”
Oct. 7-19, 2025 (Buell Theatre)

“Disney’s The Lion King”
Oct. 23-Nov. 16, 2025 (Buell)

“Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors”
Nov. 8, 2025-May 10, 2026 (Garner Galleria)

“The Hip Hop Nutcracker”
Nov. 21-23, 2025 (Buell)

“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical”
Dec. 3-7, 2025 (Buell)

“The Notebook”
Dec. 16-28, 2025 (Buell)

“Six”
Jan. 7-11, 2026 (Buell)

“Water for Elephants”
Feb. 11-22, 2026 (Buell)

“Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man”
Feb. 27-March 1, 2026 (Buell)

“The Phantom of the Opera”
March 18-April 5, 2026 (Buell)

“Hell’s Kitchen”
April 14-26, 2026 (Buell)

“Hadestown”
May 5-10, 2026 (Buell)

“MJ”
May 13-17, 2026 (Buell)

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”
May 30-June 27, 2026 (Buell)

“The Sound of Music”
July 29-Aug. 2, 2026 (Buell)

“Beetlejuice”
Aug. 4-9, 2026 (Buell)

“Monty Python’s Spamalot”
Aug. 11-23, 2026 (Buell)

“The Outsiders”
Sept. 8-27, 2026 (Buell)

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

The play takes place on the morning of July 5, 1857, nine years after the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls. Alma Mayhew (Megan Hill), her husband, Albert (Matthew Boston), and some of the tenants of their boarding house are making plans for a clandestine meeting of East Coast suffragists.

Throughout the early minutes of the play, Mrs. Mayhew shouts up to the rooms, trying to rouse Lauralee, a roomer who has bartered her cleaning services for accommodations. Happy with himself, Mr. Mayhew has already put the pot of coffee on, a fact another tenant will make a point of deriding.

One of the first things you might notice entering the in-the-round Kilstrom Theatre, where this sly and slapstick-y comedy unfurls, is that the Denver Center encouraged scenic designer Reid Thompson to have a good time of it. And so he has. The parlor of the Mayhew boarding house in Manhattan’s Lower East Side is well-appointed with a piano, side tables, settees and knick-knacks. A staircase leads up to a landing, a few more stairs and then the hallway outside the tenants’ rooms. Portraits adorn the wall along the stairway.

As is the way with a parlor comedy cloaked as a murder mystery, this one wastes little time introducing the various suspects (ahem, characters). Yes, even before there’s been a killing. (And Rustin, the playwright of “Clue” — one of the most produced plays of the last few years — is practiced in the juggling of possible murderers.)

Mr. Albright (Rowan Vickers), an Irishman hoping to make America his home, bounds down the stairs and begins dispensing unexamined views on women and integration. The latter criticisms are directed toward the hostel’s progressive proprietors but also at a fellow tenant, Mr. Jennings (Curtis Wiley), a Black inventor with some extra, winking flair. Rustin creates a smart and subtle bit of connective tissue between women’s rights and abolition, by having Mr. Jennings be a refugee from Seneca Village — intentionally to be confused with Seneca Falls, the site of the first rights convention.  Seneca Village was the settlement established by free Blacks seized by eminent domain in 1857. It was where parts of Central Park now stand.

Also on hand is the burly, bearded Mr. Orton (Gareth Saxe), who sits unspeaking in the shadow of the stairway, taking everything in.

Although the rooming house is in New York City, it has the feel of the antebellum South. That sense is amplified when Mrs. Adams (Linda Mugleston) and her daughter, Mable (Annie Abramczyk), enter. The proper Alabamans carry boxes loaded with contraband: sashes for attendees of the gathering of voting rights advocates. They came to New York so that the young, excitable Miss Adams could have her out-of-wedlock baby. (For slightly different reasons, Mrs. Mayhew once required the very sort of refuge she now offers other young women.) But mother and daughter have embraced the duties of the empowerment movement with zest. “Activism is its own kind of thrill,” Mrs. Mayhew remarks.

Apart from Mr. Albright, everyone is both nervous and excited about the day’s meeting. But where is Lauralee, who still hasn’t emerged from her room? The night before, she had been sent out by Mr. Mayhew to stir up some good trouble (to borrow a phrase from the late, great congressman and civil rights champion John Lewis).

The co-conspirators crafted a fine alibi for their local constable were he to appear: a séance! In a bit of subterfuge, the Adamses wear sashes with the word “SÉANCE” across them. But when a new police officer shows up at the door, the feminists — female and male alike — are distressed.

The constable (Kevin Isola) delivers news that a body has been found. The previous night’s July Fourth celebrations gave way to a riot between two gangs. Even so, the death appeared far from accidental or collateral. Clues suggest it’s Lauralee. Cue the collective gasp. There will be more sharp inhalations on the part of the well-oiled ensemble, and each proves amusing if only for its unabashed silliness.

To throw the doggedly curious constable off the track, they go ahead and hold the seance. Mable wholeheartedly takes to her clairvoyant role. Her congress with the spirit world goes unexpectedly well. Director Margot Bordelon choreographs the guffaw-eliciting nonsense with a light yet deft touch.

On the surface, the sexual politics of “The Suffragette’s Murder” are lightweight. It’s a comedy, after all — though it plays differently this month than it did when it had its staged reading during the Denver Center’s Colorado New Play Summit two years back.

In a nice feat, “The Suffragette’s Murder” refuses closure. One of the most durable alliances will be tested when a secret is revealed; others will become more solidly forged. “If you’re defeated by men today,” says Mrs. Adams, “let yourself be buoyed by women tomorrow.”

In the upper hallway, Mr. Jennings offers a final “Woosh!” — his infectious expression of optimism. It’s a sweet exclamation, hopeful but also a little heartbreaking. And that, too, has to do with timing.

IF YOU GO

“The Suffragette’s Murder.” Written by Sandy Rustin. Directed by Margot Bordelon. Featuring Megan Hill, Gareth Saxe, Matthew Boston, Rowan Vickers, Linda Mugleston, Annie Abramczyek, Curtis Wiley and Kevin Isola. At Kilstrom Theatre in the Denver Center’s Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Through March 9. For tickets and info: denvercenter.org or 303-893-4100.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.