Shams by Rumi is sweet, different, but it needs some polishing.

With solid performances from the cast and wonderful cultural elements from the Middle-East (including dialogue in Arabic and Farsi), there's a lot to enjoy about the story that is quite unfamiliar to an Albertan audience.

However, the show is long. The script could be trimmed down and dialogue tightened to keep the pace up. Paired with a few too many long scene transitions and cues not quite on their mark, the production as a whole could have benefited from a little bit more rehearsal.

Admittedly, I am not familiar with the poets for whom this show is based upon and I found myself longing for more of that "artsy" element you can only find on a stage. To me, this show as a whole felt like it could have been a film.