By Robert Avila

a&eletters@sfbg.com

The title of Heather Raffo's one-woman play Nine Parts of Desire comes from an old Shiite maxim, "God created sexual desire in ten parts; then he gave nine parts to women and one to men." The characters are composites of women interviewed by Raffo, American-born daughter of an Iraqi father, over a 10-year period that started when she traveled to Baghdad in 1993 to visit her extended family. Their concerns, needs, hopes, frustrations, and fears thus span the years of tyrannical rule under Saddam Hussein, as well as the events and impact of the first Gulf War and the most recent US war and occupation. All are not equally convincing as flesh-and-blood persons; some have a more literary or poetical quality about them that, depending on your inclination, tips either toward a thematically productive use of artistic license or a reverent form of caricature. Layal, based on the Iraqi artist killed in her home by US bombs, is Raffo's central and most complex character, and her dangerous, volatile compromises with male authority make for a subtle exploration of the notions of collaboration and resistance.

Mozhan Marnò, in the part originated by Raffo, proves a warm, capable performer under Joanna Settle's precise and fluid direction. Antje Ellerman's impressive set design serves as both indoor and outdoor settings – a bit of river water exposed beneath a fissure in a blue-tiled floor, a line of sandbags, a few household items, small rugs, a corner occupied by books on waist-high shelves – all enveloped by the scarred, partially collapsed facade of an elegant, bombed-out home that looms behind a translucent plastic tarp drawn across it. It's a compelling mixture of naturalism and dream world to match the not always as compelling mix of documentary realism and poetic flourish in the play itself.

SFBG

NINE PARTS OF DESIRE Through March 5 See Stage listings for dates and times. Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Thrust Stage 2025 Addison, Berk. (510) 647-2949 $30-$59 www.berkeleyrep.org