Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Even sharing the stage with flying topiary animals and the ghost of a dead tiger, it commands our attention immediately: a gold-plated Desert Eagle .44 caliber semi-automatic pistol, alleged to have belonged to Uday Hussein—Saddam's playboy son—and looted by American troops during the invasion on the dictator's palace. The distinctive firearm is then passed from one owner to another, sometimes coveted for its material value, sometimes for its symbolism. Throughout its travels, it remains shiny and untarnished—also loaded and ready to fire.

Clearly, this is no ordinary "Weapons R Us" theatrical hardware. How hard was it to find a stageworthy sidearm with a surface of sufficient splendor?

"Lookingglass got the gun from a props and weapons company called The Specialists Ltd." reports fight designer Matt Hawkins, "They had already built one for the New York production of Bengal Tiger, so it was available and ready for rental."

The Desert Eagle .44 is a hand-held pistol, but onstage, it looks big enough to mount on the back of a truck! Hawkins—who also drilled the Uzi-wielding actors in Chicago Shakespeare's Julius Caesar—concurs, "It is a very big gun. It is the biggest gun I've ever handled."

Its size sometimes makes for nervous audiences seated a bare ten feet away—even with prop weapons, unforeseen mishaps can occur. Fortunately, Hawkins is a firm believer in taking safety measures.

"There's no ammunition in the gun when the characters are struggling with each other to gain possession of it. We load it with blank cartridges only for the two scenes that call for it to be fired. Even then, there's a little bit of powder-flash that shoots out of the barrel with this kind of firearm, which is why we never point the gun at another actor [when it's loaded]—it's always aimed off-line or down the aisles."

What's the hardest task faced by the actors who fire the weapons? "First, they hope the safety hasn't accidentally been switched on, because then, the gun won't fire. Second, they have to predict in what direction the spent shell will drop. Finally, there's the closing rounds—those are the blanks that don't have powder in them. They make the gun appear to be fully loaded, but they often cause the gun to jam."

How have the audiences been responding? "During previews, the noise drew a few stifled squeals, but now they're mostly prepared for the blast."

Have any playgoers asked where they can buy one? Hawkins laughs. "I haven't heard of anyone inquiring."

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo runs at Lookingglass Theatre through March 17.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Contributing Writer