Washington Post - Recommended
"... Mystery and self-discovery are the main themes here, which lend themselves well to theatrical meanderings but not conclusive endings. The closing chant, after the birds find the Simorgh and burlap curtains are pulled back to reveal a dazzling mirror, seems more like self-help cheerleading than Sufism. Something about the sun, the mirror and seeing your soul in your body. The Simorgh told the birds these things, the hoopoe tells us, without using words. In a show worth seeing for its movement, music and imagery, a little kooky dialogue should be forgotten, like a swirl of dust in the desert."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"... “The way is open but there is neither traveler nor guide.” That is the closing statement and tagline of Folger Theatre’s production of The Conference of the Birds. Based on the poem by Farid Uddi Attar the stage version is written by Jean-Claude Carrière and Peter Brook. Directed by Aaron Posner this production is a flurry of interpretive dance and movement mingled with the brilliant audio creations of Helen Hayes Award-winning Composer Tom Teasley. The Conference of the Birds allows you to ponder the greater meanings of life along its spiritual and metaphysical journeys and paths."
MetroWeekly - Somewhat Recommended
"... Essentially, the play's lesson seems to be that there's a fine line between self-discovery and vanity. As head hoopoe, Patty Gallagher is the almost schoolmarm-like leader of this flock of birds, and guides them through several parables about being more considerate, caring, selfless. She eventually leads them on a far-flung quest across barren deserts and stormy seas, all in pursuit of a mythical bird king, the Simorgh. In the end, they only find a mirror. Is that supposed to be Simorgh's way of telling the birds –and us –to do more reflecting, as the hoopoe infers?Surely, it shouldn't be taken as a sign for more preening."
WeLoveDC - Recommended
"... Many moments enrich this production. Just when you’re hypnotized by one, the mood suddenly shifts. A strutting peacock covers her deformed feet in shame. A man smears his face defiantly with his own blood, so as not to appear pale with fear. Moths flutter repeatedly into a flame. This isn’t an easy journey for a company or an audience to embark on. It’s beautiful yet challenging, and not everything will be clear.
But it doesn’t need to be."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...Director Aaron Posner has done a lot of noteworthy work for the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC, but his visionary production of The Conference of the Birds moves his work in a new and unexpected direction. This work is allegorical, fascinating, and often ambiguous, but it's never less than engrossing."
Washington City Paper - Highly Recommended
"... Led by director Aaron Posner and choreographer Erika Chong Shuch—working, presumably, in tight coordination with Teasley, whose insinuating polyrhythms inform everything about the evening—the ensemble creates ravishing stage pictures: a sensuous duet for that passion-addled princess and the slave she’s mad for, wildly colorful swirls of avian chaos as the flock battles a windstorm, a sweeping gesture by an astrologer that dashes an entire cosmos to dust in an instant. The rich and suggestive costumes are by Olivera Gajic, the imposing set by Meghan Raham, and the whole is lit with surpassing grace by Jennifer Schriever."
BrightestYoungThings - Recommended
"... Duff isnot the only musical talent inthe production. The Nightingale (Annapurna Sriram) also takes a turnat the ukulele, singing a song about her one true love – roses. The alternately egomaniacaland petrified peacock (brilliantly played by Jessica Frances Dukes) sings a jumpy number while sashaying through the audience, fake feathers flying. Celeste Jones hasperhaps the most impressive number, an uplifting spiritualabout the love she feelsfor her king – who ultimately hasher decapitated."
ShowBizRadio - Highly Recommended
"... Whatever its deeper meanings, Folger Theatre’s The Conference of the Birds,in a stage version by Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carriere and directed by Aaron Posner, is a downright brilliant piece of theater. The key words are intricacy and precision. The main elements: Erika Chong Shuch’s choreography for the ensemble cast, involving a significant degree of coordinated group movement, unison breathing, hand gestures, and occasional bits of tumbling; Jennifer Schriever’s spectacularly detailed and varied lighting design; Tom Teasley’s music on multiple instruments. Each movement by the ensemble is perfectly, instantaneously timed with corresponding light cues and individual notes in Teasley’s music. The evening is one of virtuosic execution of a carefully conceived plan for presenting the story."
DramaUrge - Highly Recommended
"... The digressive nature of the storytelling hangs heavy in places and the plethora of narratives, often didactic in nature, makes it occasionally slow going. And at times the overlap in characters and circumstances blur the clarity. But these are minor points next to the overwhelmingly playful, provocative, aesthetically pleasing, and creative show that awaits you. All theatergoers - from the fun-loving to the serious - in the DC-area and beyond will want to get Conference on their calendar ASAP. You just may want a second look!"
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"... The Folger Theatre’s Washington area premiere of Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carrière’s stage-adaptation of Farid Uddi Attar’s master poem, The Conference of the Birds, captures that sense of the sublime. Without being overly didactic or dogmatic, its theatrical story offers its audience the unique opportunity to go on a spiritual adventure."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
The Conference of the Birds is an opulent mystery, inviting audiences on a journey far from traditional narrative and performance styles. The play is a joyful experiment in group storytelling, and a nimble balancing act between make-believe and mysticism. With its precise, expressive physical work and its entrancing design elements, this ensemble-based piece is an exciting complement to the Folger’s line-up of Shakespearean classics.
