Students from the Herberger School of Film, Dance and Theatre are set to debut a production based on a historic tale of love and discovery, as a part of the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Applied Project Festival at Arizona State University.
“The Conference of the Birds,” showing at the Unexpected Gallery, will feature work from undergraduate and graduate students and provide an immersive look into Iranian culture through music, visuals and poetry.
The project is based off of the 12th century Sufi poem “The Conference of the Birds” by Farid ud-Din Attar, and tells of the journey a group of birds take to discover the wondrous Simorgh, and the valleys they must cross to find him.
The show's director, Associate Professor Rachel Bowditch, saw Peter Brook’s version of the poem in Singapore when she was 14, and said she has dreamt of bringing the poem to life for the past two decades.
In the last two years, Bowditch has worked with performers and designers to turn her dream into a reality.
Audrey Pfeifer, a theater major and sophomore at the Herberger Institute, has been working on the project since fall 2016.
“It’s really exciting, it’s a completely new experience for me,” Pfeifer said. “I got to write some original music for it, it was really fun.”
The cast says they are passionate about the project, but that President Trump’s travel ban recently delivered a personal blow to the production and its crew.
Mahya Razavi, an Iranian MFA design student and costume and set designer for the show, traveled to Iran to gather props and costumes during the break, only to be denied re-entry into the United States upon her return.
“She was coming to the opening, she had her visa and she had her plane ticket, and she can’t come now,” Bowditch said. “So this piece is now even more relevant. We are trying to create that bridge.”
Razavi played a critical role in bringing the production to life. Although she won’t be there in person, the crew plans to Skype her during the opening show.
“One of the reasons we wanted to do this was to insert a positive image of Persian culture back into the world, and say look at this amazing rich, deep, beautiful poetry,” Bowditch said. “It’s not about terrorism or death and destruction, it’s about beauty, love, connection and self discovery.”
"The Conference of the Birds," will run from Feb. 23-25 with shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Unexpected Gallery, located at 734 W Polk St.
The show's production manager Malena Grosz said that while the show is sold out, there still may be a chance to see the production.
"More seating will become available in the week if possible," Grosz said.
Contact the box office for more information, (480) 965-6447.
Reach the reporter at bnmattox@asu.edu or follow @britt_mattox on Twitter.
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