A brilliant play about the human cost of the Iraq war. Shortly after Saddam Hussein disappears into hiding, we meet a tiger in the zoo who’s probably about to be eaten by locals. There’s also the ghost of Saddam’s recently killed son Uday, who sadistically terrorizes his own people, and there are his victims and fresh-faced U.S. soldiers, none of whom care about politics or victory. There are bigger issues at play, like surviving, staying sane, and maybe making a dollar out of this insanity. The tiger (Robin Williams) gets top billing as a likeable seeker of the meaning of life, but the real star is the pervading sense of “How in the hell can people hurt each other like this?” This is a brisk, heart-rending story and a very readable script. Reviewed on Nov. 18, 2021