Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Young Vic – 2025

The brief: Iraq, 2003. Shot dead by an American GI, the ghost of the Baghdad zoo last Bengal Tiger haunts the war-torn city, plagued by a fundamental question: “Why am I here?”. Looking for God in the chaos of the American occupation, he crosses path with three men, each one on their own quest – for revenge, forgiveness… and a solid gold toilet seat.

The artwork turn the actors’ faces into the Iraqi desert through lighting (orange tint and sideway shadows) with the Bengal Tiger, viewed from above, making its way towards their eyes.

After the concept was approved, I learnt that in Arab, the word for ‘eye’ and ‘pool of water’ is the same.

Actors portraits (Ammar Haj Ahmad, David Threlfall and Arinzé Kené) by Sebastian Nevols. Tiger photography (Getty Images)