Glowing lanterns, ornate rugs. These props set the scene when the lights come up on the Baltimore Theatre Project’s reimagined staging of a three-hundred-year-old opera by Handel.The Tale of Serse takes this classic work, set in the Persian Empire, and dials up the volume on its Persian-ness, blending in calligraphy and poetry by the 13th-century philosopher, Rumi. Performances run June 14-16th. Information here.Director Timothy Nelson describes the process of modernizing an opera, and artist Parinaz Bahadori describes the power of Rumi to bring Americans and Iranians together. Learn more about the Iranian-American Community Center here.