‘Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo’ – War and the price of suffering…
Ghosts, past and present, and how we treat others and animals are covered in this deeply felt work…
By Suman Bhuchar
THIS is the European premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s black comedy about the absurdity of war but with serious undertones and it appears remarkably timely.
Joseph has made his mark on the UK theatre landscape with his wonderful play, ‘Guards at the Taj’, which was originally staged at the Bush Theatre in 2017 and remounted at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2025.
‘Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo’ is set in Baghdad in 2003 in the aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq and it begins with two marines – Tom (Patrick Gibson) and Kev (Arinzé Kene), who are guarding The Baghdad Zoo.
Tom reaches in to taunt a skinny looking starved Tiger (played by Kathryn Hunter*) and the Tiger mauls his hand off.
Tom was telling Kev about how he got a golden pistol when he raided Uday Hussein’s mansion and he has also stolen a golden toilet seat which he has hidden.
Kev shoots the Tiger who is now a ghost and anthropomorphised with human speech.
The Tiger philosophises on the nature of war, hunger and its own character and essence.
The Tiger is almost condemned (like ‘The Ancient Mariner’ in Samuel Taylor-Coleridge’s poem) to wander around Baghdad searching for the meaning of life and how ‘she’ fits into the scheme of things. We are not clear about the exact gender of the Tiger – but Hunter in her performance refers to the Tiger as ‘her’.
The marines inhabit one world and the Tiger another. The audience can see and hear both worlds. However, later on Kev will be able to see the Tiger.
‘Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo’ gives us an insight into American arrogance and disdain for local people, customs but also on the impact of war on young men – experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (pdst) and the general horror of war.
Tom and Kev rely on their Iraqi translator Musa (Ammar Haj Ahmad) and while Tom is recovering away in America, Kev is rude to Musa and shows him the golden gun and tells him the story of how it was acquired.
Musa reacts afraid and we learn why later.
At this point, Tom comes back to claim his toilet seat, while Kev, plagued by the death of the Tiger kills himself in a most brutal way and wanders around as a ghost.
The play does give you an insight into the role of local translators in war zones who are often caught in the middle.
Musa was originally a gardener specialising in topiary for Uday Hussein (Sayyid Aki) – who also appears as a ghost in this play and he raped and tortured Musa’s sister.
Musa appears to have no agency in the actions around him until he reacts…
The show is directed by Omar Elerian with set and costume design by Rajha Shakiry. The stage is pretty bare – burnt out objects of war and dry – like a desert landscape with a backdrop of Saddam Hussein in the first act, and later the stars and stripes of the US flag.
‘Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo’ is mostly men’s experience of war – from the horror, violence and brutality to the crude sexual language.
The women are only there as people who bear the impact of war and provide witness.
You can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all but at the same time it is utterly horrific contemplating the reality of it all.
This is compelling, emotional – and a difficult but rewarding watch.
ACV rating: **** (out of five)
*Show has had cast changes: The Tiger is now played by Peter Forbes, replacing Kathryn Hunter
Listing
‘Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo’ runs until January 31 at the Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ
https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/bengal-tiger-the-baghdad-zoo
The age guidance for this show is Age 15+ and there are many trigger warnings – blood, decapitation, violence, gun shots – check out the full list on the website link
