Participate in a dialogue between East and West during the fall play at Fresno Pacific University.
9 Parts of Desire looks at Iraq and America through the eyes of nine women—artists, exiles, wives, lovers and activists—all of whom address the audience directly in monologues. The result is, according to The New Yorker, “an example of how art can remake the world.”
Performances begin at 8:00 p.m. November 10-12 and 17-19 and at 2:30 p.m. November 13, 2016. The production takes place in Strasbourg Theater on the main FPU campus, 1717 S. Chestnut Ave., Fresno. Admission is $12 for general audiences, $10 for seniors and non-FPU students and $5 for FPU Alumni Card-holders. Tickets at eventbrite.com/e/heather-raffos-9-parts-of-desire-tickets-28063499683?aff=es2
The student cast includes Meg Clark (Reedley), Karen Vargas (Tulare), Annelise Escobedo (Clovis), Cierra Guerra (Clovis), Jessica Jeffery (Long Beach), Gracie Robinson (Coarsegold), Valeria Ayala (Stockton), Allison Calhoun (Lemoore), Stephanie Barnett (Reedley) and Sadie Cobb (Fresno). Julia Reimer, Ph.D., associate professor of theater, is the director; Jerry Vocalino designed the set and lighting; Brooke Aiello designed the costumes.
Heather Raffo, an American whose father was born in Iraq, based 9 Parts of Desire on her conversations with Iraqi women and their experiences between the first and second Gulf Wars and occupation. The play has been produced Off Broadway, Off West End in London and regionally throughout the United States and beyond. Raffo has won the Lucille Lortel, Susan Smith Blackburn and Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin playwriting awards and been nominated for the Helen Hayes, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League prizes for outstanding performance. More on Raffo and the play at heatherraffo.com/projects/nine-parts-of-desire/