Heather Raffo’s Award Winning Play “9 Parts of Desire” and the Oral Exhibit “In Times Of War: Her Untold Story” Premieres May 9th
There has been a wall of silence surrounding the female experience of the war in Iraq. Now metro Detroiters can experience the human cost of war told from a woman’s point of view both on stage and through an oral exhibit. Y-ARTS, the arts and humanities branch of the YMCA of metro Detroit has combined with the Arab Theatrical Arts Guild, the Water Works Theatre Company and The Arab American National Museum to present Michigan native Heather Raffo’s award winning play “9 Parts of Desire” and the oral exhibit “In Times Of War: Her Untold Story” May 9 through 24, 2008, in the Marlene Boll Theater at the Boll Family YMCA 1401 Broadway in Detroit.
Detroit-area actress Sarab Kamoo (Iraqi-Chaldean heritage) teams up with award-winning director Edward Nahhat to bring Ms. Raffo’s eye opening play to life. The play is a performer’s tour de force; one actress portrays nine different characters in a non-stop 90 minute immersion in the heartache, love, laughter and redemption these heroic women find through war. “I wanted to bring 9 Parts of Desire to downtown because it represents the type of important, exciting theatre that can also create positive dialogue in our community.
Also an important exhibition from the Arab American Museum in Dearborn will be displayed; it’s an additional learning opportunity for our audience,” said Y-Arts VP of Arts and Humanities, Gillian Eaton.
The Arab American National Museum gives a voice to women who have historically been marginalized, through a new oral history exhibition. “In Times of War: Her Untold Story” features the perspective of Arab-American women who have experienced war—either directly or indirectly—and have told their stories to young Arab-American women. The women’s backgrounds and stories are diverse—ranging from a survivor of genocide, to a nurse dealing with survivors of war, to a U.S. Army veteran—but they all share one thing: a Middle-Eastern heritage. “Women often have to bear the brunt of war,” says AANM Director Dr. Anan Ameri. “As men leave to fight, many of them dying, women must face the economic, physical, and most of all psychological hardships of a broken society. These women are extraordinary; they are paragons of strength.”
Tickets for Heather Raffos’s 9 Parts of Desire are on sale now. This event is made possible by grants from the PECK Foundation and the Knight Foundation. Please visit Water Works Theatre Company’s website www.waterworkstheatre.com. Performance dates are: May 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23 and 24 (Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $15.00 for Fridays and Sundays, $20.00 for Saturdays. The Boll Theatre is located at 1401 Broadway in Detroit, next to the Broadway People Mover Station. For further information call 313-223-2751 or visit www.y-artsdetroit.org