Heather Raffo's Nine Parts of Desire February 1, 2006

The Wilma Theater?s Artistic Directors Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka are proud to welcome to Philadelphia two extraordinary theater artists, Iraqi-American playwright Heather Raffo and London-based director Kate Saxon, for the Philadelphia Premiere of Heather Raffo?s Nine Parts of Desire. In this stunning and compelling mosaic of the voices of ordinary Iraqi women, playwright Heather Raffo brings to life personal stories from nine women of different ages, backgrounds and outlooks, all united by one common theme; their strength. Among them are a free-spirited artist who paints nudes and is curator of Saddam Hussein?s art center, a political exile in London, a New Yorker of Iraqi descent who is glued to the TV news, a young girl who dances to American music and is enamored by all things Western, a beleaguered doctor, and a Bedouin woman in search of love. Beyond politics, veils and war, this daring one-woman theatrical tour de force celebrates the vitality, endurance and diversity of the women of Iraq whose stories are not often told on TV or in the newspapers.

A critically acclaimed Off-Broadway hit which ran for nine sold-out months, Heather Raffo?s Nine Parts of Desire was hailed as ?an example of how art can remake the world? by The New Yorker, earning nominations for the 2005 Lucille Lortel Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. Heather Raffo?s Nine Parts of Desire begins previews February 1st, opens on February 8th and closes on March 12th, 2006. Tickets are $10 to $49 and are available at the Wilma Theater Box Office (265 South Broad Street), online at www.wilmatheater.org or by phone at 215-546-7824.