As an ardent admirer of Rumi’s poetic work, I had very high expectations from Doost (friend in Farsi), which fortunately for individuals like me, came to Vancouver with a mystical amalgamation of Sufis- Rumi, Hafez and Nurbakhsh. And although, I was amazed by the divine Sufi music accompanying the script, there was an obvious lacking in direction and script consequently fluctuating the entire flow. Performed in the Historical Theatre, the mystical journey is inspired by the life of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order’s past Master, Dr. Javad Nurbaksh.
The stage setting complete with traditional musical instruments looked divine and when Nadeem Phillip takes a seat in a meditative state, the excitement builds up.
Essence of the plot lies in Javad’s journey from his younger years to adulthood leading to spirituality under the guidance of Sufism. The show begins with Richard Newman, playing Tosca, feeling hopeless when Javad, a friend and teacher who introduced him to the Sufi order, passes away. From here the show rewinds to unfold Javad’s journey simultaneously running with Tosca tossing his doubts on the wisdom announced by Sam Bob in various roles here and there.
Sofia Bunting Newman maintains space in the script as a voice to Javad’s younger self who later finds his speech (perhaps Sofia’s presence was used to denote Javad’s younger years, while his own voice possibly shows matureness in the older years). A beautiful moment of Javad’s pursue of spirituality is reflected as he contextually rides a bike and let’s go of the handles, thus denoting his discovery of freedom.
Delara Tiv, one of the talented performers (Camyar Chai and Chelsea Haberlin have done a fantastic job with their selection of performers and musicians) is spellbinding with her flamenco skills schemed somewhere in the middle of the plot.
Overall, I was impressed by the meditative voice of Soleyman Vaseghi and beautiful composition by Hamin Honari, Ali Razmi, Brandon Walker and Amir Eslami. It stood out for me and made up for the lack of flow and poor direction. My expectations perhaps were inclined towards further insight into Sufism and its glorious treasures.
Chai and Haberlin’s idea to draw the audience onto the stage during the concluding song was charming!
