Washington Post - Recommended
"... Plotting is not Joseph’s strong suit. “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” itself can feel a little shapeless as it wends its way through the irony-laden experiences of characters such as Gavigan’s Tom, who after losing a hand returns to Iraq in search of the gold-plated toilet seat he pilfered from one of Saddam’s palaces. (“Zoo” is rife with images of mangled bodies, whether in the form of wounded soldiers or lepers or damaged topiaries.) But what the play lacks in forward thrust it makes up for in the lyrically unsettling mosaic it vividly assembles."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"... There are no easy answers in Rajiv Joseph’s terrific play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, but there is a hell of a lot of interesting questions to ponder. Now being given a superlative mounting at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre, this is a production that – like the ghosts of the dead in the play – will haunt you long after you leave the theater."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"... Director Jeremy Skidmore is just the right person to bring this vision to life; he has demonstrated his facility with non-realistic drama in the past (his staging of The Lieutenant of Inishmore for Signature Theatre some years ago comes to mind). His direction makes the audience see and understand a world where no one is quite sure what is real or how anyone should behave."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"... Soldiers at war also instinctively go looking for prey, but unlike animals, humans are haunted by their consciences. There’s lots of gruesome action in Bengal Tiger, both onstage and off, but the intensity comes from watching the characters grapple with the consequences. A trio of local actors—Danny Gavigan, Felipe Cabezas, Maboud Ebrahimzadeh—portray the troops and their interpreter. It would be easy for urbane D.C. audiences to be put off by the brash, redneck Marines. But Joseph makes them just compassionate enough, and the Iraqi characters just conflicted enough, that theatergoers are compelled to set any politically grounded expectations aside."
Washingtonian - Highly Recommended
"... There’s a whole lotta yellin’ onstage in Round House Theatre’s riveting production of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Rajiv Joseph’s play, which ran on Broadway in 2011, takes place during the Iraq War, and two of the central characters are US Marines under a lot of stress. So they yell and brandish weapons and occasionally use them."
Gazette.net - Highly Recommended
"... This is a riveting evening of theatre like no other I have experienced in the last two years. And while the Round House's production team has outdone itself in recreating the sights and sounds of the war, there is much, much more to this intriguing play. It is not an in-your-face anti-war polemic. Not by a long shot."
DramaUrge - Recommended
"... Bengal Tiger walks a fine line between displaying the chaos, confusion, exploitation and explosive violence of war and its overrepresentation. Too much of the former and a play becomes didactic, it loses entertainment; if too much of the latter, it loses value. The extensive Arabic dialogue, translated in the script, is lost in performance and all the ranting, often coming from multiple parties, wears the meaning thin. The dream sequences layered on otherworldly reflections mask the message."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"... There is a song in the musical Barnum called “Bigger Isn’t Better.” When I saw Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo on Broadway, I remember thinking that it was a good show. Robin Williams was great as the Tiger, but the theatre it was in was huge, and the production swallowed the script. I am happy to report that Round House Theatre has provided us with a great production of this play in the cozier confines of its Bethesda venue, allowing Rajiv Joseph’s script to be the main focus."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
Rajiv Joseph’s 2010 play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, is one of the most inventive meditations on war you’re likely to encounter. Set in 2003 in Iraq, the play depicts the ravages of war with poetry and inspired weirdness—and without the battle scenes, macho bravado and massive body counts usually associated with combat plays.
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"... At Round House Theatre this month, you can catch this Pulitzer Prize finalist, which I highly recommend. This is one of best plays of the last decade, and Round House’s production, directed by Jeremy Skidmore, captures the savage humanity of Joseph’s play."
