Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Tickets from $74 Buy Tickets
Summary
How does a bleak war-torn tale of sin and redemption find its way to Broadway these days? Casting an Oscar-winner in his Broadway debut doesn’t hurt. Enter Robin Williams in Rajiv Joseph’s existential, darkly humorous play, "The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo." A finalist for the Pulitzer, Joseph’s examination of morality in the midst of war is not the gripping evening in the theatre one might hope to find. Director Moisés Kaufman allows the grim nature of the character’s circumstances to take center stage in a play filled with as much poetic dialogue as profanity, but fails to stress the surreal touches which may have given the production much needed perspective.
Williams may be most associated with his work as a manic comedian, but his film performances include thoughtful doctors and caring teachers, so it should come as no surprise that the Juilliard-trained actor immerses himself into the title role with a measured performance. He’s dressed in rags by costume designer David Zinn, and never skulks, but rather paces with the deliberate movement of the jungle beast he inhabits.
He plays a sad, hungry tiger, being guarded by young rough and tumble American soldiers at the fall of Baghdad in 2003. As one of the young men tries to feed the tiger, it chomps off his hand. The tiger, in turn, is shot dead, left to wander as a ghostly presence and philosophize.
The "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" is first, and foremost, an ensemble piece, despite the fact that Williams is very much a star, and it’s his name which is motivating ticket sales. Glenn Davis, as the victim, and Brad Fleisher, as his avenger, do a credible job as boys desperately trying to assert themselves. But the writing for them feels stereotypical. Stronger is the ghost of Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday, played with shocking intensity by Hrach Titizian. Arian Moayed, as an artistic gardener turned translator, steadily reveals just enough of his internal rage, to allow the audience to get completely engrossed in his turmoil.
The world Joseph has created, populated by ghosts seeking to find ‘the meaning of life’ where the dead walk among the living is certainly an ambitious one. These are epic themes, and visually, the stone and tile sets provided by Derek McLane, off-set by David Lander’s shadowy lighting, provide just the right level of otherworldliness. But "The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" never really finds its footing. Instead, it meanders, much like the tiger once released from his cage, aimlessly wandering in search of true meaning.
By Lesely Alexander
Visit the Site
http://www.bengaltigeronbroadway.com/
Cast
Robin Williams, Glenn Davis, Brad Fleischer, Hrach Titizian, Sheila Vand, Necar Zadegan, Arian Moayed
Open/Close Dates
Opening 3/11/2011
Closing 7/3/2011
Box Office
212-307-4100
Theatre Info
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
Comments
Sign up for our newsletter !
