An older, not necessarily wiser 'Tiger' at the Mark Taper

In the early days of the Iraqi War, a rare Bengal tiger was killed. Playwright Rajiv Joseph has taken that incident and woven a tale, "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo," about people haunted by past deeds, spirits pondering the nature of God and guilt and two countries now tied together by a war that was only supposed to last a few months. The play made its world premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre last year and is now at the Mark Taper Forum. What could be better in this Year of the Tiger?

We have a tiger growling and snarling about just how stupid the eight lions of the Baghdad zoo were, "The lions were as dumb as rocks." Two foul-mouthed American soldiers (Glenn Davis as Tom and Brad Fleischer as Kev) talking two different things: one of friendship and fear and the other of greed and opportunity.

The two men are in the zoo because people are stealing things like peacocks. When one soldier, Tom, teases the tiger, he loses his hand and the other soldier Kev kills the tiger. And the tiger is finally freed, but to what effect? He wanders Baghdad aimlessly wondering "What if my every meal has been an act of cruelty?"

And cruelty and helplessness is an ongoing theme. The people of Baghdad are represented by women who are powerless and were or are used by both the former regime and the current one. Besides the women, there is the interpreter for the U.S. soldiers, Musa who the soldiers call Habib.

This is no magic carpet and no genies appear. The true magic here is how director Moises Kaufman takes Joseph's play and skillfully tailors the words and characters into a black comedy where the funniest characters we meet are the old, dead tiger, wandering around asking questions in the form of a paunchy white-haired Kevin Tighe and Hrach Titizian's stylishly cruel and deliciously evil Uday Hussein, the owner of a golden gun that now seems to have its own special curse.

Interview with playwright Rajiv Joseph.

Review of Kirk Douglas Theatre original production.

There are some subtle changes, particularly in the second act. For some reason, this didn't work as well for myself or my companion. Still, I laughed at the Uday's musings and mourned for Arian Moayed's Musa. Musa was tragically an artist whose patron saint was the evil Uday and who now works for men who don't even bother to learn his name. There are no princes who save the princesses in this tale of Baghdad and there are no Gunga Dins.

As for the real tiger, here are the facts. According to News24.com, the shooting happened during a party. After a few beers, one of the soldier tried to feed the cat. The tiger's response was to take off one of the soldier's fingers and maul his arm. The tiger was 14 years old and had been born in the zoo. In the wild, there are only 3,000 to 4,500 Bengal tigers left and they are considered an endangered species. National Geographic lists only fewer than 2,500 in the wild. 

At the time of the incident, the Baghdad zoo housed 44 animals, many of them former pets of Saddam Hussein and his son Uday. There was a happy ending of sorts. In 2008, two new Bengal tigers arrived at the Baghdad zoo. They were donated from the Conservators Center located in North Carolina. Veterinarians from the center accompanied the tigers to Baghdad. A new living space which included a wading pool had been prepared.  The 2 Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division and a Baghdad Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team helped make improvements in the zoo.

The 14-year-old Bengal tiger in the Baghdad zoo was a minor character in the tapestry of the war, but in Joseph's play, he is the warrior king contemplating his transplanted life while watching the hopes of two American soldiers unravel in a city that has become a zoo with the natives held captive.

This is an excellent comtemplation of war that should not be missed. This play is a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and is one of my favorite plays.

The "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" continues until 30 May 2010 at the Mark Taper Forum. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Dark Mondays. (213) 628-2772. (photo by Craig Schwartz).