Advanced Theater's Conference of the Birds

South Salem’s Advanced Theatre class will be performing Conference of the Birds as the final production of the year. The play itself focuses on a select group of birds who are determined to search for their true king, the Simorgh.
“The play is heavily symbolic and heavily indicative of several middle eastern religious philosophies. It’s just fascinating and has a high number of parables, so there’s an overarching story, but often there’s focuses on individual vignettes and scenes,” Assistant Director Aric Wood ‘16 said.
in search of Simorgh, the birds find their determination beginning to wane. The journey takes them through the seven valleys of the quest, love, understanding, independence and detachment, unity, astonishment, and, finally, poverty and nothingness. Only some of the birds manage to persevere throughout the entirety of the play.
“Coming into it, I thought ‘Whoa, this is a weird show, it’s just a bunch of novelty sketches and things that don’t make sense,’ but, as it all comes together, it’s really cool to see. Come to the show to see what happens,” Assistant Director Sam Mock ‘17 said.
Conference of the Birds will run May 20-21 starting at 7 p.m. in the Rose Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased at the door, $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens.