Conference on Audible

Curious to know more about Anna’s work with the Conference of the birds? Now you can listen to it on Audible! You can also take a sneak peek onto the scenes by searching on her youtube page or social media, start here.

This ancient Sufi tale from the 13th century is a metaphor for life, telling of a group of birds who set out on an initiatory journey in search of their deepest and most authentic selves. Only a small group survives the obstacles and arrives. The actress, with the help of a piano, creates the narrative space through words, songs, music, and soundscapes. The Hoopoe, the guide of the birds, draws the audience into the story, speaking to each spectator as if they were part of the journey.

The journey of a group of birds, led by the Hoopoe, who set out in search of their king, the Simorgh. Sound intertwines with the words, and the narrator addresses the spectators as if they were part of the journey, creating an intimate actor-spectator relationship, moving from dervish to princess, from slave to bird, without interrupting the continuity of the story. “What should we do with our hearts?” the birds ask, and this question comes directly to us. This ancient Sufi tale can, with its simplicity, push us to ask eternal and ever-timely questions. Every bird has its resistance, its excuses to convince itself not to leave. Some will suffer, some will not, some will get lost, some will tire, some will die along the way. But as we continue on our journey, it will become increasingly clear that the obstacles we encounter are merely metaphors. Metaphors of the difficulties human beings face when they search for their deepest and most authentic self, when they decide to face themselves.