Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Written by Rajiv Joseph, Directed by Ian Crawford
Topiary built with Matthew Mott and Kristen Yeager
The topiary were made with steel box tube skeletons, chicken wire wrapped with muslin dipped in glue, painted green, and smeared with glue before being covered with sphagnum moss, which was painted green after. The heads of the topiary were carved out of bead foam and attached to the skeletons before being wrapped in muslin, Built with Matt Mott (Welding), and Kristin Yeager (Chicken Wire and Muslin). Dressed with Bret Engle.
Topiary built with Matthew Mott and Kristen Yeager
The Unicorn theatre (Kansas City, Missouri)
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo tells a complex story that follows two U.S. Soldiers, a gardener turned interpreter, Sadam Hussien's dead son Uday, and the ghost of a tiger wrestling with questions of redemption and the cosmos, and the purpose of life and his existance after.
This show unfolds in the tradition of magical realism, grounded by the gritty content and dark overtones of the harshness of the Iraq War. Set in and around Baghdad, the eleven scenes take place in eight different locations, calling for a set that is both versitile and universal in it's uses. For this purpose, the scenery is painted mainly using the same violet-tinted grey tones throughout, providing a canvas that can support the beauty that each scene presents.
December 2014
Director: Ian Crawford
Lighting Designer: Kris Kirkwood
Scenic Designer: Sarah White
Costume Designer: Lindsay Davis
Sound Designer: Sarah Putts
Props Master: Bret Engle
Technical Director:Adam Terry