The cast in Loyola’s latest theater production immerse themselves in the lives of characters based on actual Middle Easterners facing daily plagues.

“9 Parts of Desire,” written by Heather Raffo, is an emotional tale of the lives of nine women living in the Middle East. The actresses portray characters ranging from an artist to a doctor to a teenage girl with great emotion and spot-on accents.

The players display a range of emotions – from laughter to sadness, and hope to concern – that will keep you wanting more.

The set is a beautiful and haunting representation of a blown-up building that represents each character’s environment. Audience members have the option to watch the performance from pillows surrounding the stage.

Director and assistant professor Laura Hope turned the one-woman show into a nine-person ensemble cast. Hope said she wanted to use the show and its cast to address the war in Iraq.

Playing these characters was not just a matter of showing up and reading the lines. The entire cast had to go through extensive dramaturgy, which is studying the back-story and society depicted in the play. Assistant director Monica Harris helped guide the cast through the documentaries and extensive research for “9 Parts.”

“You have to know where you’re going. I had to know what doctors there are like,” theater senior Andy Cervantes said of his role as the doctor.

Theater communications freshman Constance Palelei plays Layal, the glue that holds the whole play together. She explained that she felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when she heard that Raffo would be attending the production.

When Hope contacted Raffo and told her about the change of cast, Raffo supported the decision and decided to attend the production. Raffo said she thought the production was beautifully done and the actresses and set were amazing.

Raffo got the idea for the play after coming across a painting by artist Layla Al-attar during a 1993 trip to Baghdad.

Raffo, whose family lives in Baghdad, says that the women in the play are not all based on real people but are rather composites based on research and stories told to her.

“I listened deeply to what each woman said, what she wanted to say but couldn’t say, and what she never knew how to say,” Raffo said.

Raffo wasn’t only here to observe; she taught a master class for theater students on Feb. 26, held question and answer sessions after some performances and is part of the Biever guest lecture series.

“9 Parts of Desire” won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation and a Lucille Lortel award for Best Solo Show in 2005 and is the fifth most-produced play in America, according to the Theatre Communications Group, a national organization.

The production is even being turned into a documentary. Music professor John Snyder and music industries studies students are working to compare the similarities between the issues faced in the play and the issues New Orleans residents face post-Katrina.

There are still two more chances to see “9 Parts of Desire” – Feb. 29 or March 1 at 8 pm in the Lower Depths Theater. Admission is $8.

John Adams can be reached at [email protected].