{"id":7986,"date":"2013-10-13T16:18:53","date_gmt":"2013-10-13T23:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=7986"},"modified":"2013-10-16T08:07:59","modified_gmt":"2013-10-16T15:07:59","slug":"bengal-tiger-at-the-baghdad-zoo-an-original-drama-about-the-iraq-war-at-sf-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/bengal-tiger-at-the-baghdad-zoo-an-original-drama-about-the-iraq-war-at-sf-playhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo\u2014An Original Drama About the Iraq War at SF Playhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flora Lynn [rating:5] (5\/5 stars)<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n

Tiger (Will Marchetti) talks to God in SF Playhouse’s current production. Photo by Jessica Palopoli.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Playhouse has launched the first year of their second decade, now in a new venue, at 450 Post Street, with a Tony nominated and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo<\/em> by Rajiv David and directed by Bill English.<\/p>\n

This show is about a tiger (Will Marchetti) that haunts the streets of present day Baghdad seeking the meaning of life.\u00a0 As he witnesses the puzzling absurdities of war, the tiger encounters Americans and Iraqis who are searching for friendship and redemption.<\/p>\n

This tiger lives in the Baghdad zoo. He tells the audience that most of the animals have fled to \u201cfreedom\u201d because of the Iraq invasion, only to be shot dead by soldiers.\u00a0 That night United States soldiers come to guard the zoo.\u00a0 The tiger, driven by fear and hunger, bites off the hand of Tom (Gabriel Marin), a soldier.\u00a0 Kev (Craig Marker), another soldier shoots the tiger, mortally wounding him.<\/p>\n

Kev finds himself haunted by the ghost of the tiger, who wanders about Baghdad.\u00a0 Due to an outburst while searching an Iraqi home, Kev is sent to the hospital.\u00a0 Back in Baghdad with a prosthetic hand, Tom pays a visit to Kev.\u00a0 It is revealed that the gun Kev used to shoot the tiger was taken from the palace of the late Uday Hussein. Tom wants the gun back so he can start a new life in the U.S. by selling the gold plated gun. During the exchange however, the gun falls into the hands of Uday\u2019s former gardener, Masa (Kuros Charney), who is also working as a translator for the soldiers.\u00a0 He is frequently visited by Uday\u2019s ghost (Pomme Koch).<\/p>\n

The rest of the show involves the living characters interacting with the dead ones as the war happens around them.\u00a0 Will Marchetti gives an amazing performance as the tiger (worth the price of admission) and is ably assisted by Gabriel Marin and Craig Marker as the two Marines.<\/p>\n

Director Bill English chose this play because \u201cit asks the biggest question of our lives\u2014why are we here\u2026we are all part animal, part spirit and our success at being human is defined by how we balance our contradictory nature.\u201d In addition, English has created a fantastic set which is augmented by the imaginative lighting design of Dan Reed.<\/p>\n

Playwright Rajiv Joseph tells us \u201cBengal Tiger is more of a ghost story than a war story in which we are haunted by our struggle to define guilt and responsibility\u2014to define ourselves in relation to the universe and to find a moral compass to guide us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo <\/em>runs October 1-November 16, 2013. Performances are Tuesday-Thursday at\u00a0 7 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. plus Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. SF Playhouse is located at 450 Post Street (2nd<\/sup> floor of Kensington Park Hotel b\/n Powell and Mason). For tickets, call the box office at 415-677-9596 or go online at www.sfplayhouse.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coming up next at SF Playhouse will be Store Front Church<\/em> by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Bill English, November 26-January 11, 2014.<\/p>\n

Flora Lynn Isaacson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flora Lynn [rating:5] (5\/5 stars) Tiger (Will Marchetti) talks to God in SF Playhouse’s current production. Photo by Jessica Palopoli. The San Francisco Playhouse has launched the first year of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-flora-lynn-isaacson"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"