''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'' is a play by Rajiv Joseph. The show is about "a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

that haunts the streets of present-day

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

seeking the meaning of life. As he witnesses the puzzling absurdities of war, the tiger encounters

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

s and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

is who are searching for friendship, redemption, and a toilet seat made of gold." The back of the book gives a synopsis: "The lives of two American Marines and an Iraqi translator are forever changed by an encounter with a quick-witted tiger who haunts the streets of war-torn Baghdad attempting to find meaning, forgiveness and redemption amidst the city's ruins. Rajiv Joseph's groundbreaking play exposes both the power and peril of human nature."

Synopsis

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

lives in Baghdad Zoo. He tells the audience that most of the animals have fled to "freedom" because of the

Iraq invasion The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, only to be shot dead by soldiers. That night, United States soldiers come to guard the zoo. Two soldiers are stationed outside of the tiger's den. One soldier teases the tiger with food. The tiger, driven by fear and hunger, bites off the hand of Tom, one of the soldiers. Kev, another soldier, shoots the tiger, mortally wounding him. The tiger slowly dies. Kev finds himself haunted by the ghost of the tiger, who wanders about

. Due to an outburst while searching an Iraqi's home, Kev is sent to the hospital. Kev has seen the tiger's ghost and in turn people think he is going crazy. Back in Baghdad with a

prosthetic hand In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

, Tom pays a visit to Kev, less out of compassion for a broken-minded buddy than for a more practical purpose. It is revealed that the

gold-plated Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by chemical or electrochemical plating. This article covers plating methods used in the modern ele ...

gun Tom was showing Kev when the tiger bit Tom's hand off was taken from the palace of the late

Uday Hussein Uday Saddam Hussein ( ar, عدي صدام حسين; 18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician and the eldest son of Saddam Hussein. He held numerous positions as a sports chairman, military officer and businessman, and was the head ...

, the son of overthrown Iraqi dictator

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. Tom contacted Kev after he got his hand fixed because he wants the gold gun back. He can start a new life in the United States by selling not only the gold-plated gun, but also a solid gold

toilet seat A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, and usually a lid, which is bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position (as opposed to a squat toilet). The seat can be either for a flush toilet or a dry toi ...

that was also Uday Hussein's. However, during Kev's episode in the home in Iraq when he saw the tiger's ghost, Kev dropped the gun and it fell into the hands of Uday's former gardener, Musa. Musa is also working as a translator for the United States soldiers. Musa is visited repeatedly by Uday's ghost. This is why Kev can't give Tom the gold gun back even if he wanted to. Kev continues to see the tiger's ghost and he believes that the tiger is haunting him because of his previous actions. Kev tries to cut off his own hand to give to the tiger, believing this action will make the tiger's ghost go away. Instead, Kev ends up killing himself while trying to cut his hand off. He then ends up haunting Tom throughout the rest of the story. The rest of the play goes on with the ghosts of the dead characters haunting and talking to the characters who are still live.

Productions

The play debuted at the

Kirk Douglas Theatre The Kirk Douglas Theatre is a 317-seat theater located in Culver City, California. Since 2004, it has been operated by the Center Theatre Group. History Built in 1946, as a Streamline Moderne movie palace with a seating capacity of 1,160 (on a s ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

, directed by

Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 National ...

."Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo"
May 10 - June 7, 2009, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Los Angeles, Center Theatre Group. It ran from May 10, 2009, to June 7, 2009. The creative team included sets by

Derek McLane Derek McLane (born June 14, 1958, in London, England) is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and television. He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Career McLane has designed more than 350 pr ...

, costumes by

David Zinn David Zinn is a costume and scenic designer based in New York, New York. He has been nominated seven times for the Tony Award for both his costume designs and scenic designs, winning one Best Scenic Design for a Play award for ''The Humans'' an ...

, and lighting by

David Lander David L. Lander (born David Leonard Landau, June 22, 1947 – December 4, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, musician, and baseball scout. He was best known for his portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman in the ABC sitcom '' Laverne & Shir ...

. Another production ran at the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

from April 14, 2010, to May 30, 2010. Kevin Tighe starred as the Tiger. A Broadway production opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 31, 2011, following previews from March 11. The show played a "strictly limited" engagement until July 3, 2011. Again directed by Kaufman, the Broadway cast featured

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

in the title role, with Glenn Davis as Tom, Brad Fleischer as Kev,

Hrach Titizian Hrach Titizian ( hy, Հրաչ Թիթիզեան; born May 26, 1979) is an American television, film and stage actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of CIA analyst Danny Galvez on the first two seasons of Showtime's ''Homeland'' ...

as Uday,

Sheila Vand Sheila Vand is an American actress and performance artist. She is known for her role in Ben Affleck's 2012 Oscar-winning film ''Argo''. Vand made her Broadway debut alongside Robin Williams in 2011 in the Pulitzer-nominated ''Bengal Tiger at the ...

as Hadia,

Necar Zadegan Necar Zadegan ( fa, نکار زادگان ; born June 20, 1982) is an American actress with a prolific career on stage and screen. Zadegan made her Broadway debut alongside Robin Williams in the Pulitzer Prize–nominated production ''Bengal Tige ...

as Leper, and Arian Moayed as Musa. Robyn Goodman, Kevin McCollum, and Jeffrey Seller produced this production along with the Center Theatre Group. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' estimated that ''Bengal Tiger'' was expected to cost at least $3 million. The production marked Williams' final Broadway appearance and his only performance in a play on Broadway before his death in 2014. He had previously appeared on Broadway in a stand-up comedy engagement. ''Bengal Tiger'' had its southeast regional premiere at

Carolina Actors Studio Theatre Carolina Actors Studio Theatre (CAST) was an independent non-profit theatre company located at 2424 North Davidson Street in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1992 by Charlotte acting instructor Ed Gilweit as an actor's teaching schoo ...

in Charlotte, North Carolina on October 11, 2012. In San Francisco the play premiered at

San Francisco Playhouse San Francisco Playhouse (formerly SF Playhouse) is a non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, founded in 2003 by Bill English and Susi Damilano. The theater stages nine plays yearly, including Broadway plays, musicals, and world ...

in October 2013 where it received rave reviews.

Awards and nominations

Critical reception

In reviewing the Los Angeles production, Charles Isherwood in ''

'' wrote that the Tiger "isn't given any silly costuming, thank heavens, but simply wears tattered clothes" and saying that the show is "boldly imagined" and a "worthy finalist for the recent Pulitzer Prize".Isherwood, Charles
"In the Iraq War, People Acting Like Animals, and Vice Versa"
''The New York Times''. May 15, 2010. The Broadway production received mixed to positive reviews. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called ''Bengal Tiger'' "the most original drama written about the Iraq War", but said, "Without an actor of Williams' marquee draw, 'Bengal Tiger' would likely not have made it to Broadway. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that it has . . . But I'm glad that it has found a home in the commercial theater district not only because the work will challenge mainstream theatergoers but because I think it will leave the more sensitive among them profoundly moved." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' praised the piece itself, but mentioned that Williams' performance "seems to miss much of the amoral ferocity of the beast (a tiger can be depressed or antic, but he is still a tiger). And a bigger problem yet is that Williams' Tiger is, as things go, not so much the protagonist as a sardonic observer of Baghdad ironies.""Broadway Review Roundup"
broadwayworld.com, March 31, 2011. "''Set in the chaotic first days of the American invasion of Iraq, this boldly imagined, harrowing and surprisingly funny drama considers the long afterlife of violent acts, as well as the impenetrable mysteries of the afterlife itself."'' - The New York Times ''"Joseph's metaphoric inventiveness is magnificently displayed throughout,'' ''and the kaleidoscope of figures and images bespeaks a purely theatrical imagination."'' - Los Angeles Times ''"Tragic yet darkly comic and highly. imaginative . . . Joseph has created a theatrical landscape that is totally different from the harrowing war reports to which the nightly news has accustomed us."'' - CurtainUp ''"The bottom line: Dark and disturbing but also corrosively funny, Rajiv Joseph's play set during the early days of the Iraq War is an exotic original."'' -The Hollywood Reporter

References

External links