---
title: Eyes (and Paws) of the Tiger
date: 2023-07-14T12:52:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/eyes-and-paws-of-the-tiger"
section: Articles
---
# Eyes (and Paws) of the Tiger

*July 14, 2023* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Alum and Faculty Member Star in Broadway Production of ‘Life of Pi’

*Hiran Abeysekera Jonathan David Martin Betsy Rosen and Nikki Calonge Photo by Rebecca J Michelson 1920x1080 — In "Life of Pi," playing now on Broadway, UMD lecturer Jonathan David Martin and alum Betsy Rosen '06 are two of the actor puppeteers who play the Bengal tiger Richard Parker. Martin, whose face is visible at left, plays the "head" of the powerful cat, while Rosen, crouched inside the puppet, maneuvers Richard Parker's torso and front paws.*

With a cautionary swish of the tail, a watchful scan of the eyes and a slinky lowering of the neck, the hulking tiger feasts upon its dinner, a green fish lying lifeless in its paws.

You’d be forgiven for anticipating David Attenborough’s plummy narration kicking in and describing the powerful cat’s hunting habits. But the Bengal tiger here is a 35-pound construction of wood and aluminum bound together by bungee cords and covered in foam, and maneuvering it are three puppeteer actors embodying the feline character Richard Parker in “Life of Pi” on Broadway—and two of those three are Terps.

Jonathan David Martin, a lecturer in the University of Maryland’s [Immersive Media Design](https://imd.umd.edu/) program, and Betsy Rosen ’06 are giving a vivid personality and physicality to the vocal but wordless Parker. The production’s fierce, prowling tiger is trapped at sea in a flimsy lifeboat with the teenage Pi, the sole human survivor of a shipwreck that killed his family, and most of the zoo animals they owned, as they journeyed from India to North America.

“It’s about the relationship between the two of them,” said Martin. “At one point, Pi says to Richard Parker, ‘I’m only alive because of you.’”



*Jonathan David Martin headshot — Martin*



*Betsey Rosen headshot — Rosen*




**Topics:** [Arts & Culture](https://today.umd.edu/tags/arts-culture)


**Tags:** [Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies](https://today.umd.edu/topic/theatre-dance-performance-studies), [Immersive Media Design](https://today.umd.edu/topic/immersive-media-design), [Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/arts)


**Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities), [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)