God created desire in ten parts, then gave nine parts to women.
-Ali, a prophet of Shi’a Islam.
9 Parts of Desire, the play by Heather Raffo (not to be confused with Geraldine Brooks’ non-fiction work, Nine Parts of Desire), was originally written as a one-woman play performed by herself. Production notes in the script illustrate the potency of one actress portraying nine different women in a one-act play: the transitions are initially distinct as the characters are being produced, but as the arcs continue, they are blurred, “driving the play towards a psychic civil war with the solo performer embodying the larger argument of what liberation means for each woman and for Iraq.” At Cal State Long Beach, Anne D’Zmura and Trevor Biship direct three women for the fifth show of the University Players’ six-show 2010-2011 season. Undergraduate students Susana Batres, Tiffanee Hall, and Kelly Roberts each take on a trio of Raffo’s women to enlighten the public on the often overlooked side of war-torn Iraq: the perspective of women on love and courage.
Regardless of which generation you classify yourself with, Desire is drastically relevant to all audience members that enter the storytelling warzone of the Players’ Theatre. D’Zmura illuminates, “Considering everything that is happening in the world today…[the play] is very timely. These are women’s stories, yet they give a larger picture of society in general. It is a celebration of human courage, fortitude, perseverance, suffering, pain and triumph despite horrific times, events…It allows us to look into a world that most of us only see via tailored perspectives on TV or in the news.” This theatrical triad of Batres, Hall, and Roberts is a powerhouse combination. All three of these women offer magnificent performances of sharing the lives of Iraqi women from all corners of the devastated killing fields. From Hall’s N’Sync loving Iraqi Girl and her whiskey-drinking, exiled septuagenarian; to Roberts’ Bedouin lover and American fixated on the TV; and Batres’ peddling Nanna and provocative arts; the audience becomes a small faction of the Iraqi people, privy to firsthand stories of unadulterated, gruesome truth.
The wonderfully imaginative world of CSULB’s Desire is the product of Scenic Designer Sabrina Beattie and Lighting Designer Paige Stanley. Crumbling slabs of broken buildings with spray paint and outlines of humans about them cradle the actors in a river of hand props and fractured furniture pieces. E.B. McTigue (Costumes), Miki Loeser (Make Up), Justus Matthews (Sound), and Anne Schilling (Voice/Dialect Coach) round out the behind-the-scenes team for this relentless show.
Even if Iraq isn’t your preferred topic of discussion, the theatricality that Raffo injects into this cultural show and tell is fantastic. 9 Parts of Desire consists of multiple monologues that can come across as morbidly honest poems that are occasionally erratically paced, but it is complementary to the weight of the subject matter. Numerous audience members were visibly in shock afterwards and were more likely than not in disgust at the truth to which Raffo speaks of (her father is Iraqi). These lives are addressed the only way they should be: undiluted and raw.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 masks
Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire Runs performs in the Players Theatre, Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm and Saturday matinees at 2pm until April 9th (NOTE: no performances from Tue., March 29 through Sat., April 2). For tickets, call the CSULB Theatre Arts Box Office at 562-985-5526 or visit the website here.
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