TEHRAN – Iranshahr Theater Complex in Tehran will host the play “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” by Rajiv Joseph from September 29.

Nader Fallah has directed and produced the 80-minute play and the cast includes Ramin Sayardashti, Alireza Akhavan, Hamed Faal, Saeid Yaghoubi, and Mostafa Kheirolahi, among others, IRNA reported.

This work was inspired by a real-life incident at the Baghdad Zoo in 2003 when a drunk American soldier shot dead a tiger.

Set amid the chaos of the 2003 American occupation of Iraq, Rajiv Joseph's groundbreaking play exposes both the power and peril of human nature.

In the play, the lives of two American Marines and an Iraqi translator are forever changed by an encounter with a quick-witted tiger who haunts the streets of war-torn Baghdad, attempting to find meaning, forgiveness, and redemption amidst the city's ruins. As he witnesses the puzzling absurdities of war, the tiger encounters Americans and Iraqis who are searching for friendship, redemption, and a toilet seat made of gold.

In borrowing this absurd situation, the play profoundly portrays the madness, hatred, and passions engendered by the Iraq war. In making the leap from reality to the world of fiction, it shines a light on reality, and the breadth that it displays in so doing makes for part of its fascination.

Rajiv Joseph, 51, is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,” and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play “Describe the Night”.

The play will remain on stage until October 31 at Iranshahr Theater, located at the Artists Park, North Mousavi Street, Taleqani Street.

SS/SAB