BWW Reviews: GUARDS AT THE TAJ Considers the Ugly Cost of Beauty

If you know anything about the legend of the extreme extent of 17th Century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's ruthlessness then, despite the initially light comedic tone of Rajiv Joseph's thoughtful and engaging new entry, Guards At The Taj, you'll know exactly where the playwright is going.

The always-intriguing Joseph is no stranger to mixing quirkiness and violence, as seen in Gruesome Playground Injuries and his Pulitzer finalist, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, but here director Amy Morton's nimbly balanced production can have you laughing at the absurdist touch with which a horrific event is presented and then be horrified when the violence quickly and seamlessly turns real.

And yet, as with much of his work, the major theme of Guards At The Taj is of grasping for the beauty in this world.

The two-actor piece begins on the day the walls surrounding Jahan's newly completed Taj Mahal are to be taken down and the proclaimed most beautiful structure in the world may be seen by all. Humayun (Omar Metwally) and Babur (Arian Moayed) are so lowly regarded among the emperor's sentries that their assignment for the day is a location where they must stand with their backs to the magnificent wonder.

Humayun takes his job with by-the-book seriousness, but he has brotherly affection for the undisciplined Babur, who keeps breaking their dictated silence with his observations on the birds flying by and his ideas for world-changing inventions.

Their dialogue is written in jaunty contemporary American English and the pair initially comes off as a well-oiled comedy team. But once the audience is lulled into enjoying their banter, Joseph approaches more serious themes such as the ugly cost of beauty and the question of putting personal feelings aside when expected to follow orders.

Metwally and Moayed do excellent work in a moving piece full of ideas that could leave you emotionally unguarded.

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