9 Parts of Desire

According to Ali Ibn Abu Taleb, the fourth Caliph of Islam, "G-d created sexual desire in ten parts; then he gave nine parts to women and one to men." That's why orthodox Muslim women are covered from head to toe: the nine parts of sexual desire they posses are hidden from men (other than their husbands), to prevent the men from losing control.

Karen Slack unmasks nine women in Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire Photo credit: Michael Ensminger

In this case, as with all fundamentalist interpretations of spiritual teachings, the practitioners are unable to discriminate between universal and temporal truths, mistaking uncontrollable sexual desire as an ingredient of human nature—i.e., a fixed condition.

The laws of the universe prove that such a static state is an illusion, leading us to the conclusion that the whole point of civilization and our present evolutionary challenge is to overcome the tyranny of the instincts and the ego (See www.SolomonsProof.com).

Karen Slack unmasks nine women in Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire Photo credit: Michael Ensminger

We know it can be done because we have various spiritual teachers who have accomplished this—name your personal favorite—but overcoming such temporal beliefs is not easy, even if it is logical, because most core beliefs are not logical, but emotional.

Enter Heather Raffo, an Iraqi-American, who unveils nine of her sisters from their suffocating bourqas in 9 Parts of Desire, now receiving its regional premiere at Curious Theatre Company. In a clever comment on the Caliph's epigram, Raffo assigns the nine parts of desire to nine separate women, all played by the same actor.

Karen Slack unmasks nine women in Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire Photo credit: Michael Ensminger

As we saw in The Syringa Tree, Karen Slack is one of those rare actors who can transform herself instantaneously and thoroughly into an entirely new and unique personna, and do so scene after scene—this evening dazzling us with a multiplicity of characters and stirring us with the underlying unity of their sisterhood.

The face of Iraq will never be the same. This is what our rulers don't want us to see: the human toll of our profit-oriented adventuristic bomb-letting that we pursue wherever we might find raw materials or geo-political advantage. Create an excuse, repeat the lie over and over, and then divert the majority of taxes and a surfeit of borrowing into the pockets of the war industry. We have now killed more than one million Iraqis, five times as many as Saddam.

Karen Slack unmasks nine women in Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire Photo credit: Michael Ensminger

On the receiving end of our atrocities are real people suffering and dying. In 9 Parts of Desire we hear the stories of: Mullaya, a professional mourner and street philosopher; Layal, a noted watercolorist favored by the old regime; Umm Ghada, who has taken the name of her children who perished when the US firebombed their bunker; Huda, an expatriot living in London who supported US involvement; The American, a vehicle for the playwright's traumas over her family in Iraq; Nanna, an ancient peddler with a razor wit; Amal, a Bedouin who sees with her heart; Iraqi Girl, brothers and father dead, whose ears can distinguish the type of tank and gun reporting; and The Doctor, her patients and herself awash in radiation from the depleted uranium artillery shells that the US has spent everywhere.

Karen Slack unmasks nine women in Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire Photo credit: Michael Ensminger

Using three layers of clothing and the simplest of props against an earthy backdrop, Slack conjures discrete universes filled with stories of love at the mercy of random catastrophic military actions. Her ability to morph her facial characteristics, body shape, and vocal identity defy the limits of one physical instrument, as if she was a product of her own imaginative animation.

Curious Theatre Company's production of Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire, directed by Penny Walrath Cole, runs through February 23rd. For ticket information: 303-623-0524 or www.curioustheatre.org.

Bob Bows