Dearborn Michigan: 9 Parts of Desire

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Ray Alcodray (313) 407-0740

or Scott Myers (248) 703-2645

Arab Theatrical Arts Guild and Water Works Theatre Company

present

the Midwest Premiere of

Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire

- Limited Engagement -

January 31 through February 11, 2007

Ford Dearborn Community and Performing Arts Center

What the critics are saying about Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire:

“Powerful! Impassioned! Vivid! Memorable!”

- The New York Times

“An example of how art can remake the world! A triumph! Thrilling!”

- The New Yorker

“Profoundly moving! Rated A!”

- Entertainment Weekly

“A beautifully shaped one-woman play! See it soon! See it today!”

- The Wall Street Journal

“Spellbinding.”

- Variety

Dearborn, Michigan. The Arab Theatrical Arts Guild (www.arabtheater.org) and Water Works Theatre Company (www.waterworkstheatre.com) are proud to announce the Midwest premiere of the smash hit play Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire for a limited engagement, January 31 through February 11, 2007, in Studio A at Dearborn’s Ford Community and Performing Arts Center (www.dearbornfordcenter.com). Tickets are now on sale ($23 - $29)

Starring Sarab Kamoo and directed by Edward Nahhat, Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire (see: www.heatherraffo.com) has been hailed as an example of how art can remake the world! Winner of the 2005 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation and the Lucille Lortel award for Best Solo Show, Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire has inspired sold-out audiences in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley and Philadelphia and is now opening in the Midwest for the first time.

A Michigan native and Iraqi-American, Heather Raffo (graduate of the University of Michigan) wrote 9 Parts of Desire after an inspiring and life-altering trip to Iraq before the 2003 war. This beautifully shaped one-woman play is a powerful portrait of the ordinary lives and extraordinary experiences of Iraqi women. A free-spirited artist, a radical intellectual, doctors, exiles, wives, mothers and lovers share their voices: vivid, sophisticated, simple, emotional and moving. Together they tell a compelling story of what it means to be a woman in war-torn Iraq.

Detroit-area actress Sarab Kamoo (Iraqi-Chaldean heritage) teams up with award-winning director Edward Nahhat to bring Ms. Raffo’s play to life. The play is a performer’s tour de force; one actress portrays nine different characters. Mr. Nahhat and Ms. Kamoo have consulted extensively with Ms. Raffo for this production.

“I am very pleased that the premiere of 9 Parts in my home state of Michigan is in such good hands”, said Heather Raffo. “Ed Nahhat and his team have invested a lot of time and creative energy into it. I am confident that their production will be outstanding.”

Ms. Kamoo has starred in several productions with the Purple Rose Theatre Company, Performance Network, Meadowbrook Theatre, Jewish Ensemble Theatre, the Arab Theatrical Arts Guild and others. But this show has special meaning to her. “As an Iraqi-American I am very proud to have the opportunity to bring Heather Raffo’s play to Michigan for the first time. It is especially gratifying to be able to share this play with my family. I hope other families will enjoy the play as well.”

Ray Alcodray, President of Arab Theatrical Arts Guild (ATAG), agrees that this production is special. “This play is a gem. It’s extremely well written as well as very important and relevant to the current situation our country faces in Iraq,” said Mr. Alcodray. “It’s essential viewing for all Americans who desire to experience and understand the human side of the Iraq war.” ATAG specializes in presenting professional theatre productions with Arab-American themes. Mr. Alcodray founded ATAG in 1997 and has produced and directed its award-winning productions, including Me No Terrorist, Arabic and Broud, A Bullet to the Heart, The Marriage Proposal, and The Bear, among others. ATAG has also teamed up with internationally acclaimed theatrical designer Fawzia Reda of Cultural Connexion for this show.

Edward Nahhat is an attorney as well as a professional stage and film actor, director and producer. He won a Dearborn Press and Guide PAGE award for ATAG’s Marriage Proposal, and is the founder of Water Works Theatre Company’s Shakespeare in the Park in Royal Oak and KidShakespeare! programs.

Tickets for Heather Raffos’ 9 Parts of Desire are now on sale and may be purchased at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, by phone at (313) 943-2354 or online at www.dearbornfordcenter.com. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $23.00 Wednesdays and Thursdays and $29.00 for weekend performances.

There is special Afterglow immediately following the opening night performance on Wednesday January 31. Afterglow tickets are $45.00 and include the play. Note that Afterglow tickets cannot be purchased online, but are available at the theatre, by telephone credit card order (313) 943-2354 or by mailing a check to: Water Works Theatre Company, 320 W. Seventh Street Suite 200, Royal Oak Michigan 48067.

Editor’s Note: Interviews are available with Raffo, Nahhat, Kamoo, and Alcodray by contacting Ed Nahhat at (586) 915-0011.