Heather Raffo
Encyclopedia
Heather Raffo is an Lucille Lortel Award-winning Iraqi American
playwright and actress, best known for her leading role in the one-woman play 9 Parts of Desire.
, a civil engineer and her mother is American
, who are both of Christian
faith and Heather is a Roman Catholic who grew up in Michigan
. Heather holds a BA
from the University of Michigan
, an MFA
from the University of San Diego
and she also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
in London
. Having been born in the United States, she and her family have visited Iraq, in 1974 when she was a little girl and again in 1993.
Raffo credits Ntozake Shange
as her most significant artistic influence and has noted her an inspiration to writing her own work after reading For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
.
. The play focuses on the lives of women in her father's homeland, and was originally thought of in 1993 after a visit to her Iraqi relatives and it was also inspired by Raffo's trip to the Saddam Art Centre in Baghdad
where she saw only billboard size portraits of Saddam Hussein
. Then in a back room, she saw a painting of a nude woman clinging to a barren tree, she took a photo of the painting, came back to America and has been digesting this painting into a play, a decade later she completed the play, which features monologues by nine highly distinct Iraqi women, all played by herself.
When asked about 9 Parts of Desire, she quotes
The response to the play drew much media attention to Heather, as she has given numerous public appearances and interviews on American television shows. She has also spoken to the National Press Club, as well as featuring in O: The Oprah Magazine as part of her "Aha Moment". With such major success in London
, Los Angeles
, New York
, Seattle, Chicago
, Philadelphia and Washington DC, 9 Parts of Desire is currently being translated for international productions in France
, Brazil
and Turkey
. On July 18, 2008, she will recreate some of her monologues from "9 Parts of Desire" at the New York Open Center http://www.opencenter.org and share what she has learned from what John Lahr in The New Yorker called "an example of how art can remake the world."
Heather has also been approached by International press about doing stories on her show, but she refused as she did not want to draw attention to her family in Iraq, as it could lead to dangerous circumstances.
Heather is also one of the six participating writers for the play The Middle East, In Pieces, a play in which displays the current developments in the Middle East
and addresses the conflicts in Lebanon
, Israel
and Iraq
.
Her other acting credits include, playing Sarah Woodruff in the world premiere of The French Lieutenant's Woman
performed at the Fulton Opera House
. The off-Broadway, Over the River and Through the Woods, the off Broadway/National Tour of Macbeth
where she played Lady Macbeth
, The Merry Wives of Windsor
as Mistress Page and The Rivals
all with The Acting Company
. Regionally in theatre productions of the following, Othello
, Romeo and Juliet
, As You Like It
, Macbeth
, and The Comedy of Errors
all with The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.
She is currently performing in a play called In Darfur by Winter Miller at New Yorks Public Theatre, revealing the depth of the crisis in Darfur
, Sudan
. The play was made to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in Darfur and help encourage activism.
Iraqi American
Iraqi Americans are Americans of Iraqi descent, including those who are expatriates in exile or permanent immigrants. The number of Iraqi Americans is around 140,000 according to the Arab American Institute....
playwright and actress, best known for her leading role in the one-woman play 9 Parts of Desire.
Early life
Her father is IraqiIraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
, a civil engineer and her mother is American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, who are both of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
faith and Heather is a Roman Catholic who grew up in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Heather holds a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the University of San Diego
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego is a Roman Catholic university in San Diego, California. USD offers more than sixty bachelor's, master’s, and doctoral programs...
and she also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Having been born in the United States, she and her family have visited Iraq, in 1974 when she was a little girl and again in 1993.
Raffo credits Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism....
as her most significant artistic influence and has noted her an inspiration to writing her own work after reading For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf is a 1975 experimental play by Ntozake Shange. Initially staged in California, it has been performed Off-Broadway and on Broadway, and adapted as a book, a television film, and a theatrical film...
.
Career
She is most famous for her notable role in the one-woman play 9 Parts of Desire, which has been noted "Profoundly moving! Rated A" by Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
. The play focuses on the lives of women in her father's homeland, and was originally thought of in 1993 after a visit to her Iraqi relatives and it was also inspired by Raffo's trip to the Saddam Art Centre in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
where she saw only billboard size portraits of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. Then in a back room, she saw a painting of a nude woman clinging to a barren tree, she took a photo of the painting, came back to America and has been digesting this painting into a play, a decade later she completed the play, which features monologues by nine highly distinct Iraqi women, all played by herself.
When asked about 9 Parts of Desire, she quotes
"I'd love to hear an American say, 'That Bedouin woman is just like my aunt.' But at the same time, I want American audiences to walk out a little confused, not able to say, 'Oh, I get it,' but rather to understand how difficult it is to grasp the psyche of people who have lived under Saddam for 30 years with American support, then had a war with Iran, resulting in 1.5 million deaths, followed by 13 years of sanctions and two wars under American firepower."
The response to the play drew much media attention to Heather, as she has given numerous public appearances and interviews on American television shows. She has also spoken to the National Press Club, as well as featuring in O: The Oprah Magazine as part of her "Aha Moment". With such major success in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Seattle, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Philadelphia and Washington DC, 9 Parts of Desire is currently being translated for international productions in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. On July 18, 2008, she will recreate some of her monologues from "9 Parts of Desire" at the New York Open Center http://www.opencenter.org and share what she has learned from what John Lahr in The New Yorker called "an example of how art can remake the world."
Heather has also been approached by International press about doing stories on her show, but she refused as she did not want to draw attention to her family in Iraq, as it could lead to dangerous circumstances.
Heather is also one of the six participating writers for the play The Middle East, In Pieces, a play in which displays the current developments in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and addresses the conflicts in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
Her other acting credits include, playing Sarah Woodruff in the world premiere of The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant’s Woman , by John Fowles, is a period novel inspired by the 1823 novel Ourika, by Claire de Duras, which Fowles translated into English in 1977...
performed at the Fulton Opera House
Fulton Opera House
The Fulton Opera House, also known as the Fulton Theatre or simply The Fulton, is a League of Regional Theatres class C regional theater located in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.-Building:...
. The off-Broadway, Over the River and Through the Woods, the off Broadway/National Tour of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
where she played Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
, The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
as Mistress Page and The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
all with The Acting Company
The Acting Company
The Acting Company is a theatre company associated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1972 by John Houseman, then a professor of acting at the Juilliard School...
. Regionally in theatre productions of the following, Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, and The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
all with The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.
She is currently performing in a play called In Darfur by Winter Miller at New Yorks Public Theatre, revealing the depth of the crisis in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. The play was made to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in Darfur and help encourage activism.
Awards
- Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation
- Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin Fellowship for 9 Parts of Desire.
- Lucille Lortel Award (2005) for Outstanding Solo Show
Nominations
- Outer Critics Circle Nomination
- Drama League nomination for Outstanding Performance