Bengal Tiger at Baghdad Zoo: Inside Iraq War’s Chaos and Trauma

Bengal Tiger at Baghdad Zoo: Inside Iraq War’s chaos and trauma

When American playwright Rajiv Joseph began working on a play about the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, he had no personal experience of setting foot on Iraqi soil or serving in the military to write about the horrors that followed after the US claimed to "disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." His inspiration came instead from a small back-page New Yor…

Review Round Up: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Young Vic Theatre

Find out what critics have had to say about Rajiv Joseph’s play, running in London until the 31st January 2026. Photograph: Ellie Kurttz The Guardian: **** “The pace is baggy and the tragedy is diffuse, its drama undercut by cerebral questioning. The production’s most enraged moments are downplayed when it could go for the jugular. But the high-wire mix of comedy, horror and intellectualism is brave, the imagination and profundity a breath of fr…

REVIEW: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Rating: 4 out of 5. “An acting masterclass so good it’s hard to watch” Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize back in 2010, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo is particularly famous for the NYC production featuring Robin Williams in his broadway debut. Written by Rajiv Joseph and set in 2003 war-torn Iraq, this play delves into the cruelty of humanity and the futility of war.  Intermingling the real and the imagined, the story follows two US marines, Tom…

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo – Young Vic Theatre, London

Writer: Rajiv Joseph Director: Omar Elerian Rajiv Joseph’s play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, directed by Omar Elerian, is a darkly comic meditation on war. It’s set in 2003, following the US invasion of Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein. A bizarre real-life event forms the imaginative core of the play: a Bengal [...] The post Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo – Young Vic Theatre, London appeared first on The Reviews Hub.