I am by no means an expert on the relationship between Rumi and Shams, but I’m familiar enough with them to know that they are one of the great tragic homoromantic/homoplatonic love stories, up there with Gilgamesh and Enkidu, Achilles and Patroclus, and Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad. So I was a bit surprised and disappointed to see that our modern Shams and Rumi are a young heterosexual couple. The play explores the lives of these people in various possible universes, in various places. They even reference the original Shams and Rumi as they speculate what their lives could’ve been. They don’t shy away from mentioning that the two of them, old male Persian poets, were in love. So why shy away from it in writing and casting this show? I think this would’ve been a lot more interesting and challenging as a play with two male actors, or two female actors, or any other combination that was more subersive than what we got on stage.

That being said, there were several things here that I enjoyed. Scenes jumping frenetically between settings with continuous dialogue, cheeky transitions between scenes, and moving poetic monologues are some of the highlights. More importantly, the performances of the two leads is very impressive. I’m only familiar with Rumi’s actor, who I had previously watched in “Splattered” at NextFest this year in which he was a standout talent. I’ve never seen Shams’ actor before, but I am keen to see her in another play soon as she likewise matched her counterpart’s performance beat for beat.

In terms of writing, the dialogue felt a bit cliche or wooden at times. Or perhaps this was because one can’t help but compare the written dialogue in this to Rumi’s own poetry, which remains some of the best in the world even when translated into English. The show also felt quite long, as I wondered if some lines could’ve been cut or the pace tightened up.

My last small gripe is that these modern iterations of Shams and Rumi meet in a conventional way. Given how iconic the real Shams and Rumi’s meeting was, that was a disappointment.

I’m glad I got to see this play. I want more thoughtful theatre like this with an all-racialized creative team. I appreciate that there is very little translation or pandering to Whiteness in this work, and the cultural elements feel authentic and lived in. This playwright is certainly one to watch.