"The 9 Parts of Desire" Arena Stage 1101 6th St. N.W. Through Nov. 12
Grade: A-
When actress and playwright Heather Raffo descended to the basement of the Saddam Art Center in Baghdad in 1993, she found a solitary picture of a woman, naked and clinging to a bare tree with her head bowed. From this image of futility and barrenness, Raffo began to explore stories of Iraqi women. This research eventually culminated in "The 9 Parts of Desire," a title that refers to the epigram, "God created sexual desire in 10 parts; then he gave nine parts to women and one part to men" (imam Ali ibn Abu Talib).
Thus, the play is racy-a lot racier than one would expect from a story that is mainly about war, death, survival and love. Thematically, it also covers prostitution, extramarital affairs and remarriages, effectively debunking the monochromatic image of "good" Iraqi women presented by American mass media.
This one-woman play, written and performed by Raffo, follows a story-within-a-story plotline that tells the tale of nine women, following eight Iraqis and one Iraqi American. Each of the nine women are struggling to deal with the war(s) in Iraq from a variety of perspectives: the Marsh Arab, the Bedouin, the expat, the teen, the doctor, the survivor, the mother, the Saddam favorite and the artist. One simple costume suffices to differentiate between each distinct character, but the minor changes in costume are augmented by an impressive variety of accents ranging from perfect Midwestern American to broken, barely conjugated English.
Throughout "The 9 Parts," the element of water pervades. Water, the soul of Iraq's past, has dried up and become dirty, forcing people to walk across their now-desert with "worn soles" to reflect their worn souls. This is one example of the near continuous clever wordplay that frequently elicits involuntary and somewhat guilty laughter from the audience.
Above all, "The 9 Parts" is smart. Historical references from Ur, Eden and the Epic of Gilgamesh share the stage with conversations about Middle Eastern politics, modern art and cancer. Several characters stand out as particularly strong individuals with whom the audience is able to identify and empathize.
The artist/prostitute is the strongest and most erratic character. In her first appearance she quotes Scheherazade, who declares, "I shall live or I shall be the ransom for all the virgin daughters of Muslims." This decisiveness and obsession is the hallmark of her personality. She paints nudes, trees and portraits of the former dictator. She has affairs, she loves her country with a destructive passion and she cheats death - until she doesn't, leaving a shaken and mournful audience.
The most familiar character is a hyperactive and impetuous teenager who rocks out to N*Sync videos and comments that rebels would never steal her mother because "her hair is bad." In stark contrast, a mother appeals to the audience to remember the death and destruction wrought upon people by war. She is nameless, known only as her daughter's mother, after her family was incinerated while hiding in the Amarita bomb shelter. Her story is the most horrific and illustrates the true cost of war in a humanistic context.
Unfortunately, the weakest point in "The 9 Parts" is the conclusion, where the separate characters merge together. Although on a symbolic level the multi-character monologue creates an experiential commonality, it detracts from the unique individuality of each woman, becomes confusing and fails to resolve the stories of many characters.
The writer and performer, Heather Raffo, will be at Busboys and Poets Monday, Oct. 16, from 6-8 p.m. The event is free, though a reservation is required.
