THE CAGED BIRD SINGS - REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT TARRAGON THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

In their synopsis to The Caged Bird Sings, creators Rafeh Mahmud, Rouvan Silogix and Ahad Lakhani inform us that the play tells the story of three prisoners: Rumi (Mikaela Lily Davies) and Jin (Navtej Sandu), two star-crossed lovers and scientists who share a cell with Sal (Rouvan Silogix), a mysterious vagrant. As they navigate their newfound reality and reconcile their past lives, they are haunted by ghosts and demons of their own making.

They continue that we are to witness a radical re-imagining of Rumi’s “Masnavi” and explore the literal and metaphorical prisons that we are put in, put ourselves in, and the ones that we create. Inspired by Sufi mysticism and concepts of Fanafillah, the production examines our ability to overcome and break out of the cage.

They tell us that “Rumi’s ‘Masnavi’ spans over 25,000 metaphorical, mystical, provocative and twisting couplets, filled with parables, poetry, philosophy, farce, and surrealist investigations of our world and the inherent connectedness of each and every living being.” They conclude that their reimagination tries to bring the essence of his thoughts and aesthetics to a contemporary globalized perspective.

That flowery and adjective-overladen text bespeaks fearlessness on the part of the creators and perhaps overweening ambition to to express in an hour and a half all the complexities contained in that long sentence not least of which is the inherent connectedness of every living being.

Scene from The Caged Bird Sings. Photos by Jae Yang. 

The play is based or inspired by Rumi’s ‘Masnavi’ which, again according to the creators of the play, “consists of over 25,000 metaphorical, mystical, provocative and twisting couplets.” That means more than 50,000 lines or verses of poetry. To put it in context, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have a total of 27,800 verses making ‘Masnavi’ almost twice as long as both Greek epics.

The play takes place in a cell with two comfortable cots where we meet Rumi and Jin, the two lesbian scientists. Their cellmate is Sal, a colourful figure, sometimes clownish, sometimes regal who tries to establish relationship with the women.

I do not know why the three people are imprisoned. The women are tastefully dressed in low-cut tops, and no one is mistreated. We do not see a jailer and what they are doing in jail is a mystery, but they are not mistreated.  The authors try hard to ease us into the play, no doubt aware that many of us are in terra incognita and I speak for myself only.

The play has numerous stories to tell and in addition to telling us the titles of the three parts, they show placards with the titles of each episode. “Of Mice and Alligators,” “Stardust,” “Songs for the Dead,” “King and the Slave” are examples. The creators seem enamoured of puns and we have “Gin Rumi.” “Rum-eo and Jiniet” three times. In addition, we have “Waiting for Godot’s Due Process” and “What’s New Pussycat” for good measure and I am not sure what they meant. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is initially expressed with Rumi and Jun jumping under the blankets.

The episodes follow one another quickly and absorbing them is difficult largely because I am not versed on the source material. The creators need to be far clearer for me to follow what is happening on stage let alone the lengthy description of their hopes.

The production is directed by Rafeh Mahmud, one of the creators, the Set Designer is Waleed Ansari, the Costume Designer is Niloufar Ziaee and the Lighting Designer is Arun Srinivasan.   

This is a production of Modern Times Stage Company and Theatre ARTaud. Modern Times (Rouvan Silogix artistic director) describes itself as an “immigrant theatre organization that has focused on celebrating and creating radical theatre in Canada.” Theatre ARTaud (Rafeh Mahmud artistic director) tells us it is “surrealist theatre and multimedia collective run by Artists of Colour.” Both companies have laudable goals and have been around for many years indicating their success.

Unfortunately, their production of The Caged Bird Sings did not get to me the way I hoped it would.
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The Caged Bird Sings, created by Rafeh Mahmud, Rouvan Silogix and Ahad Lakhani, produced by Modern Times Stage Company and Theatre ARTaud continues until June 28, 2026, at the Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.  www.tarragontheatre.com/

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto.