"9 Parts of Desire" WMU Performance

Last night I attended WMU's performance of Heather Raffo's play "9 Parts of Desire." Raffo is an American whose father is Iraqi and the play is based on her conversations with with Iraqi women. From the script these women have shared with her many intimate details of their lives, lives powerfully impacted by events in that country, including the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, the first Gulf War, international sanctions against the country, and the second Gulf War, still on going. The play is principally a series of dramatic monologues by women of differing backgrounds, experiences, and social classes.

I thought the WMU actresses did a remarkable job. Obviously they had made a careful study of the situation of women in Iraq, worked hard on their accents and characterizations, and I found their performances compelling.

This play really brought home to me both the agonies and the courage of the people of Iraq. If war is hell, these people have and are certainly going through hell. While we hear about American soldiers and rightly have concern for their safety both physically and mentally, it is rare to have an opportunity to hear the perspectives of Iraqi women.

Many moments in the performance were powerful; one that stands out in my mind are the phone conversations between an actress portraying an Iraqi American in New York and her uncle and cousins in Baghdad. Desperately concerned about her after 9-11, they call her to see if she is OK and share their concern. Of course Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11, so the next phone call, the one from the American girl to her family after the bombing of Baghdad is especially powerful and tragic.

There will be performances next week as well. After each performance there is an opportunity to talk with the actors. Buy your tickets soon -- the York Theater is small; when I arrived just before the show was starting on Friday night there was only one seat left!