Two Persian poets walk into a bar: a legendary friendship reimagined in ‘Shams by Rumi’, a guest Fringe review by Fawnda Mithrush

Shams by Rumi (Stage 1, ATB Westbury Theatre)

By Fawnda Mithrush 

Galal and his bestie Husam—a playwright and director respectively—arrive in Cairo to meet with producers. As Husam prepares for what he hopes is their big break, Galal gets distracted by pings from his phone and the prospect of a date with a mysterious “SH.”

The resulting meet-cute is set in an upscale Egyptian café, and on arrival SH turnsout to be Shams (the delightfully pragmatic Fatemeh Jelveh-Garan), a young woman visiting Cairo from Iran. Galal, played with lofty romanticism by Brijesh Nagarathinam, is initially challenged by Shams’ straightforwardness; he is surprised at his own ease in communicating with her in English, and she prods him to take poetic license with their story. The two decide to flee the café and embark on a journey that quickly churns into a surrealistic dervish through Tehran, Alexandria, and even Edmonton.

Playwright Moemen Gaafar’s reimagining of the historical relationship between Rumi and the wandering mystic Shams of Tabrizi is not quite a rom com; the contemporary Galal and Shams nod to the “two old Persian dudes” (who may or may not have been in love) as inspiration for their own wanderings across time and space. The pair here have a winsome chemistry, and their mutual spark is palpable as they gaze at whirling Sufi dancers and explore the scenery of eastern cities in classical verse.

At its core, the story examines intense friendships, and how their endings provoke a particular kind of grief. Rumi famously mourned Shams Tabrizi’s passing, and Galal falls prey to a similar sadness as he anticipates his separation from Shams. It’s the eventual remembering of his old friend Husam that shakes Galal out of his romantic stupor — and it’s in that essence of kindred connection that the two men finally find comfort.