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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><PRE style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; tab-stops: 40.5pt 45.8pt 1.0in 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Bengal Tiger’ prowls rather than pounces<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></PRE>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><o:p><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Bob Abelman</FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Member, International
Association of Theatre Critics</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">At the center of the Ensemble Theatre performance space is a mangled, metallic cage in what is the bombed-out Baghdad Zoo during the Gulf War.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The cage’s lone inhabitant – a grumbling and profane Bengal tiger (played by a captivating Michael Regnier, sans animal costuming) – reflects upon the senseless slaughter of the lions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They were recently killed by gunfire upon their foolish but instinctive attempt at escaping confinement. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Upon his own meaningless demise, the result of an equally foolish and instinctive act, the tiger discovers that his cage extends into the afterlife.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He remains earth-bound to lament all the killing his primal urges inspired and ponder existential thoughts.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In fact, all the characters in <SPAN style="BACKGROUND: #fbfcfc">Rajiv Joseph's </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">2010 Pulitzer Prize nominated<SPAN style="COLOR: black"> drama <SPAN style="BACKGROUND: #fbfcfc">“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” </SPAN>are trapped within their own personal cages from which there is no escape. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Despite a fine script, this production’s many solid performances, and </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>Ian Hinz’s simple but effective set/projection design and Andrew Eckert’s lighting, </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">much of the play’s tenacity and tension never surface.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is due to director Celeste Cosentino’s velvet-glove handling of the material.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></PRE><PRE><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For more of this review, go to:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> <A href="http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/">http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/</A></SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></PRE></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>