The Folger Theatre’s colorful, imaginative production of “The Conference of the Birds” is a stage version, by Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carriere, of 12th-century Persian writer Farid Uddi Attar’s poem about self-knowledge and enlightenment.

“The Conference of the Birds” tells the story of the birds of the world who are urged by their leader, the Hoopoe bird (Patty Gallagher), to observe the discord and anarchy in the world. They must fly together, the Hoopoe insists, to find their king, whose name is Simorgh. It will be a long and dangerous journey, says the Hoopoe, but it must be done.