Review - Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

I've seen several plays of Rajiv Joseph's over the years.  I have liked his work in the past and I imagine I’m predisposed to enjoy it now.  But I have to say I thought his new play on Broadway was kind of amazing.

A Pulitzer finalist, Bengal Tiger arrives on Broadway basically because Robin Williams agreed to do it.  Well, if that’s what it took, thank you Robin Williams.  Because it seems to me such a gift that audiences can see a play that is reaching for and trying to say so much.  These kinds of plays are few and far between.  It’s so smart and so funny and so terrifying.  There are probably a few too many ideas here (war, greed, life, death, religion, the existence of God, to name just a few), but I was mainly captivated by each and every one.

Williams plays, yes, a tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.  He is funny and profane, and his monologues are fantastic.  Rajiv’s writing here is spectacular.  After the first scene, the tiger wanders around, with amazing philosophical musings.  He’s trying to figure out why he’s still there, and that if there’s an afterlife, does that mean there’s a God?  And if there’s a God, how can he let these atrocities happen?  Meaty stuff.  His musings reflect on the living characters in the play as well, especially the gardener turned translator, Musa, played by the incredible Arian Moayed.  Musa, when we first meet him, is a charming friendly face to the American soldiers, but as his journey continues, and he is beaten down by guilt and sadness, the horror of war is starkly presented in the deterioration of a man.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

I could really talk forever about this play.  There is just so much to talk about!  I would love to see it again, and sit and talk all night about it.  The performances are all terrific.  Robin Williams gives a controlled, focused, yet ferociously funny performance as the tiger.  Plus, he melds into the ensemble beautifully.  And I think Arian Moayed is giving one of the best performances I’ve seen in awhile.  Though I’m rooting for the heartbreaking John Benjamin Hickey to win the Tony for Normal Heart, I would not be disappointed at all if Moayed walked away with it.  Brad Fleischer and Glenn Davis play American servicemen who are so flawed, you practically have to look away.  Their performances are spot on.  And speaking of looking away, the gent (Hrach Titizian) playing the ghost of a son of Saddam Hussein is just grotesque and funny and completely, vividly real.  Oh, and the set is incredible and I was very impressed with Moises Kaufman’s direction.  It can’t have been easy to direct a play like this, which is so imaginative and daring, but he did a wonderful job with it.

You’re probably exhausted, just from reading this e-mail and figure, why should I see this flawed, complicated play?  It’s summer!  What about Anything Goes?!?!  ;)  I’ll admit that towards the end of Bengal Tiger, my wind wandered a bit and I wondered where all this was going, and then, my breath stopped and I started to sob.  It all just suddenly added up to something sublimely beautiful.  I fully recognize that Rajiv is striving so high that he doesn’t completely succeed in what he’s trying to do, but all I know is I was totally transported and moved beyond words.  The gal next to me, however, was not.  She was intent on finishing the salad in a Tupperware container she brought with her.  And a guy behind me was snoring.  The house was probably three-quarters full—this play IS a tough sell.  An anti-war play that delves into the existential and demands as much of its audience as it does of itself will never be a huge crowd pleaser, but I do think most of the people that came and saw and listened are glad they did.  I so look forward to what Rajiv brings us next.