Three Plays: Gruesome Playground Injuries / Animals Out of Paper / Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

by Rajiv Joseph

Rajiv Joseph is one of today's most acclaimed young playwrights. The winner of numerous awards, including an NEA Award for Best Play and a Whiting Writers Award, he is an artist to watch. This volume gathers together for the first time his three major plays to date.

Included herein are his latest play, Gruesome Playground Injuries, which charts the intersection of two lives using scars, wounds, and calamity as the mile markers to explore why people hurt themselves to gain another's love and the cumulative effect of such damage; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a "philosophical and existential investigation into the Iraq War" (Los Angeles Times), a darkly comedic drama that looks on as the lives of two American soldiers, an Iraqi translator, and a tiger intersect on the streets of Baghdad; and Animals Out of Paper, a subtle, elegant, yet bracing examination of the artistic impulse and those in its thrall. The play follows a world-famous origamist as she becomes the unwitting mentor to a troubled young prodigy, even as she must deal with her own loss of inspiration.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, The United States Of America, Book Club, American

242 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Errol Orhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo first, because that is the reason I bought the book. It is a pretty cool play, but I think that my reading of The Pillowman two days before seriously influenced the way I rated it. I thought the play was nice, but not necessarily overwhelming. After finishing that play, I moved on to Animals Out of Paper, a tender story about creativity, hopes, and people shattering other people's hopes. For some reason a lot of people who have hopes and those who don't care about other people's hopes seem to meet in New York. Animals Out of Paper sucked me in, an left me wanting to read more of Joseph plays, which was fortunate, because I still had Gruesome Playground Injuries. I like the theme of people looking for love, and finding it in each other, though not necessarily at the same time, and thus hurting each other beyond repair.

After I read the last line of Gruesome Playground Injuries, I realized I really enjoyed reading the Bengal Tiger. I also realized that I had made a mistake by reading it first, and ignoring the way the editor had set up this book. Well, that is what you get for thinking you know more about the way a book should be laid out than an editor, I guess.

[Yourfiendmrjones · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Blood Beneath The Whimsy"

All three plays have these elaborate flights of fancy that seem to be intertwined with a very real-world sense of danger. Kids who play out their relationship over wounds and illness in various hospitals and school nurse's offices. Origami artists, their fans and how both types' emotions are as delicate and fragile as the paper they fold. The ghosts left behind by various killers in Baghdad are doomed to haunt their killers and themselves as they wander the blood-drenched land in search of a God who will not answer their questions. Each play will stay with me, if only because of how much I don't know after reading them.

[Daniel Vaca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gruesome Playground Injuries: The character histories are vague and the story is melodramatic. 1/5

Animals Out of Paper: Is there a name for manic pixie dream girl, but applied to a plot? I find most modern plays have premises that are so devoid from reality that they're impossible for me to take serious. 1/5

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo: The best play in the collection with the best premise that quickly squanders it by not involving the tiger more. Becomes more unsatisfying as it goes along. 2/5

[Allie Schenitzki · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick read! i enjoyed this play. i have conflicting feelings about stories like this where it's in such a vacuum (only two characters, only a few settings, etc). i want to know more about their characters and their surroundings, how they became the person that they are today.. but i guess that's the point. it allows your imagination to run wild

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of three plays by Rajiv Joseph, who in this moment is considered to be the 'hottest' of the new American playwrights. Joseph has enormous potential, and you can almost see it being realized throughout this compendium. The works slowly build from bulky conception to a full realization of talent and power.

The first play, 'Gruesome Playground Injuries,' presents an interesting viewpoint in that life can be measured through one's scars or physical injuries. It follows two friends from elementary school into their thirties and charts their mutual masochism and self-destruction. The idea itself is intriguing, but the play wasn't really long enough or adequately explored to get a sense of the characters or their affectations.

'Animals Out of Paper' was the second work in the book. Its concept was much more basic and less intriguing than 'Playground Injuries,' and the sentimentality was almost in excess. But the dialogue and motivations of the characters redeemed it. Rajiv Joseph, though American, is of Indian descent, and it seems he partially explores his own racial identity in a subtle and intriguing way though the adolescent genius Sanjay. 'Paper' improves upon 'Playground Injuries,' but still doesn't reach a complete level of transcendence.

'Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo' filled in all the shortcomings of the first works in the collection. It reminded me of Tony Kushner's (Angels in America) American philosophy and fantastical examinations of change presented in the style of a Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman) play. 'Bengal Tiger' works in some deep allegorical territory, that is both prickly and hauntingly familiar. It's a confronting work, that attacks the issue of the Iraq War better than any I've yet read on the subject. The war in the play is not grounded in a gritty reality, but rather presented in a disquieting ghost-like manner. The dead rise again, Tigers speak to soldiers and gold guns are curses of death. This style elevates the text in that the reader is not left to stereotypically wallow in the horrors of war, but rather ponder the victimization in the predatory instincts of countries and their inhabitants.

[Sophia MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked these. My tendency toward surrealist plays is showing up here. I'm using a monologue from the Bengal Tiger one which is funny because it's one of the least relatable to me out of all three (purely for the fact that a war is the main plot). I know that I like a piece of writing when I wish I had some sort of book club to sit down and dissect with and that's how I feel with all three of these.

The first one apparently was very popular for monologues and I see why. The relationship and issues of the characters are really applicable to most people. Also, I love the way that this is meant to be staged.

Animals out of Paper was definitely the most odd out of the three. The use of origami to figure out someone's life was really cool and I would've never thought about that.

I really liked Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, and obviously my favorite character was the tiger. I sit up at night because the voices in my head are debating what aspect of humanity he's a representation for.

[Joe Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plays are clever (brilliantly written too), but not the sort of plays I prefer. These are some dark plays.

[Drew Rosensweig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Significantly more enjoyable than the idea of some of my close friends listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on Spotify day after day.

[mehrnaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gruesome Playground: 3.5
Animals out of paper: 2.5/3 I have absolutely no idea what this play was trying to say/do
Bengal Tigers: 3.5 Ugh I would have loved Bengal Tigers if the girls and women weren’t just for plot devices and HEAVILY sexualized in an evil and perverse way and it didn’t center around Americans and the Iraqi characters were holistically represented, not just always in reference to the American characters and the war. I loved the character of Uday Hossein though, that was done really well

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allows one to see Joseph's growth as a playwright. I didn't care much for Gruesome Playground Injuries, but the other two were worth reading.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, witty, clever, and extremely bloody. I hope this guy grows up to be Martin McDonagh someday.

[Eliza Bunker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of plays. Joseph is my favorite playwright.

[mengwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

dude gruesome is such a good play

[Paris Herbert-Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking collection of three plays. Glad I read them

[belleabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant writer. The three plays ranked (in my opinion):

1. Bengal Tigers at the Baghdad Zoo
2. Animals Out of Paper
3. Gruesome Playground Injuries

[Carla]

I don't read many plays but I'm glad I read these three. I got the book during intermission at Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo on its closing day on Broadway. All three plays deal with powerful themes, characters seeking some kind of resolution but it's the intensity of what is not said in Gruesome Playground Injuries that makes me like it a lot. There's this tension between the two characters in this first play that is the mark of great writing. In reading Animals Out of Paper I was directly reminded of the question lingering in the previous book I had finished minutes before (Reading Lolita in Tehran): How do you cope? I had this question in the back of my mind as I really got into the characters in this second play. I've read the third play twice, maybe because the memory of Brad Fleischer as the character of Kev is still fresh in my mind - it was performed with such intensity (actually all of the actors were phenomenal) - that I wanted to replay it in my mind. I can't help but read the Tiger's lines with Robin Williams' image. This play is the most intense one of the three for me - precisely because I think I saw it performed. But if you didn't see it I still recommend it. I love the existential themes, the "fights" with God, with life, with war, and the questioning. I love the short sentences that create such rage and intensity. I look forward to more works by Joseph - hopefully more on Broadway as well!

[Rachelle Urist · Rating 4 out of 5]

ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER was my favorite among these plays. Second: GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES. Both well imagined & thought out, both lyrically written, with fascinating characters. I saw BENGAL TIGER IN THE BAGHDAD ZOO on Broadway before reading it. It's a fine play, but I found Robin Williams both a distraction & a detraction from the play & its production. I love Robin Williams the comic, & I liked him in the movie, GOODWILL HUNTING, but in TIGER all I saw was an actor working awfully hard to get his timing right. I never saw the tiger, which was the role he played. A pity. That tiger’s mind would have been interesting to follow, had I seen it brooding & philosophizing, as we’re meant to do. Instead, I saw the actor aiming his words at the right moment in time, between his fellow actors’ lines. Never really saw the tiger immersed in his own, interior reflections.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gruesome Playground Injuires - (4/5)
Animals Out of Paper - (3/5)
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - (3.5/5)

Rajiv Joseph has a amazes me; his plays are very distinct from one another yet still feel like they are written by the same person, he writes strong plots with dynamic characters and he keeps the reader/audience watcher guessing and wanting more. It's so refreshing to read plays that are unlike anything else out there yet still get you in the heart and gut. I will be keeping him on my radar as a playwright to watch for. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection.

[Branden · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely have some respect for joseph as a playwright after reading these plays. bengal tiger is the strongest and most ambitious play in the book, by far, though there are a couple little sly tricks he pulls that kind of make me a little wary. gruesome playground injuries was just a little like, "????" animals out of paper i saw in production -- it's fine. well-constructed, but pretty unmemorable. anyway.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the three plays in this collection I've only read Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo--it hasn't been published individually apparently--but damn, what a play. I really can't think of much I don't like about it, it's just a fascinating take on war and violence with a taste for the ineffable. Probably one of the few fictional portrayals of the Iraqi war that isn't completely ruined by awful sentimentalism.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have only read Gruesome Playground Injuries--haven't liked it as much as I have most of the other plays I've read this year. I didn't think the characters could really stand on their own outside the device that the author uses, ie, their injuries. Regardless, it portrayed a pretty deep and believable relationship. Maybe I'll change my mind after seeing it in the theater.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO.

a bit disappointed from what I've heard about it, but I liked it. Especially the scene with the Tiger (ghost) & little girl (ghost)

playground injuries was good! on to the animals...

playground injuries still my favorite!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each play is very different yet totally engaging. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo is the reason I bought this; I thought I should read something so acclaimed. How was I to even guess how amazing Gruesome Playground Injuries or Animals Out of Paper would be? Such a good compilation.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

My head is seriously messed up...especially after reading "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo". Is it about war? Is it about God? Is it about humanity? Is it about family and friends? Is it about death? Is it about greed? So much to process.

I did not read Animals Out of Paper at this time.

[Brent Hetherington (brentbetweenpages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read "Gruesome Playground Injuries" and "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" for the time being. Both excellent plays. I'm really loving Joseph's plays. "Bengal Tiger" my favorite out of the two that I've read.

[Richard Toscan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful and daring play by Rajiv Joseph on the intricacies and violence of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, triggered (the play, that is) by the killing of the namesake tiger in the actual Baghdad Zoo. The narrator is the tiger.... There's probably nothing else that needs to be said after that.

[Corey]

Saw a really interesting production of Gruesome Playground Injuries on Youtube , and definitely want to read some of Joseph's other plays now.

[Chuck O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rajiv Joseph writes beautiful and haunting plays. Read these.

[Kyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only finished paper. I liked it. the others were to traumatizing at the time.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great.....