Baghdadi Bath

Baghdadi Bath is a play of two Iraqi brothers who work as bus drivers on a route between Baghdad and Damascus, which includes some of the world’s most perilous thoroughfares. Hostage-taking, stealing and executions are daily occurrences on their route. The persistent helplessness and suffering of the Iraqi people is embodied in their misfortunes under both Saddam Hussein’s regime and the American occupation. In the privacy of a steam room, they deliberate on their lives before and after the U.S. invasion, opening their hearts and exploring their repressed memories. What emerges is a picture of the wrenching everyday horror of surviving in a war zone. Ultimately, there is a tragic ending: the brothers are victimized while transporting a political candidate back into Iraq from a neighboring country.