Heather Raffo’s Journey into Iraq
History and politics played an important role in the creation of 9 Parts of Desire
timeline compiled by Chelsea Keenan
"I think that young people are especially influenced by their first war," Raffo reflects. "If you came of age during Vietnam, that event helped shape you. My coming of age was the first Gulf War—although it wasn't very long in time frame and didn't seem to affect Americans that much, it affected me hugely."
• 1963 - Heather’s father immigrates from Iraq to the US
• 1967 - Heather’s parents meet and marry
• 1970 - Heather Raffo born in Michigan
• 1974 - Heather travels with her parents to visit her father’s family in Iraq
• 1979 - Saddam Hussein takes control as the Iraq President, arresting and killing many of his leadership rivals. Reports will later claim that his regime was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
• 1980 - Hussein claims that the newly formed Shi’ite –based Iranian government is attempting to overthrow his Sunni-led government and declares war on Iran. Iraq’s borders are closed.
• 1988 - The long Iran-Iraq war ends in stalemate, largely due to western support for Iraq.
• 1988 - Heather enters University of Michigan to study literature and acting.
• 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait. After a successful occupation, Hussein declares the state now a part of Iraq.
• January 1991 - The UN Security Council, and subsequently the US government, approves military action against Iraq, in addition to economic sanctions. Live satellite images of missile attacks are broadcast world-wide from Baghdad.
• February 1991 - US-led forces overwhelm the Iraqi military. A peace resolution is adopted and Hussein withdraws from Kuwait. Peace terms include no-fly zones, stiff weapons regulations by UN inspectors, continued sanctions and the threat of more severe sanctions if other terms are broken. Some sources report these sanctions lead to an additional 90,000 Iraqi deaths per year.
• 1993 - Heather returns to see family in Iraq. After a 20-hour bus ride and 5-hour wait at a closed border, Heather is welcomed warmly as family and allowed inside.
• 1998 - Heather begins work on 9 Parts of Desire as a thesis project for her MFA at the University of San Diego. She pursues additional voices of Iraqi women to extend the experience beyond that of her own family and Iraqis met during her 1993 trip.
• March 2003 - US-led forces re-enter Iraq, citing a breach in the UN resolution against Iraq rearmament.
• August 2003 - 9 Parts of Desire premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Spring 2004 - 9 Parts of Desire is further developed by New York’s Public Theatre
• October 2004 - The show receives its New York premiere with the Manhattan Theatre Ensemble where it runs for nine sold-out months and garners tremendous praise.
• May 2008 - Having shared the show with audiences in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC and more, Heather Raffo and Director Joanna Settle bring 9 Parts of Desire to Chicago to conclude the international tour.