Photo by Irene Young
Heather Raffo first performed Nine Parts of Desire in August 2003 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. It later moved to the Bush Theatre in London’s Off-West End, where critics hailed it as one of the five best plays in London in late 2003. Nine Parts of Desire was next developed and performed as a reading at The Public Theatre as part of their New Work Now festival in Spring 2004. The play then was presented at The Manhattan Theatre Ensemble for nine months, October 2004 – May 2005, where Raffo received thunderous applause by both press and audiences.
Nine Parts of Desire was inspired by Raffo’s trip to the Saddam Art Center in Baghdad in 1993 where she saw only billboard-size portraits of Saddam Hussein. However, in a back room she discovered a painting of a nude woman clinging to a barren tree with her head bowed. There was a light in front of her, like a sun. Raffo took a photo of the painting in hopes of finding the artist, only to discover she had been killed during an American-led bombing raid in Baghdad earlier that year (1993).
Jean-Louis was brought in by director Joanna Settle to help Heather deal with the larger theatre and the vocal and physical requirements of the play. Heather describes the experience: ” I had been performing my one-woman show for 9 months in New York City in an off-Broadway venue that sat about 150 people. The Geffen show however was being performed at the Brentwood theatre that seats approximately 500 people. Our process was nothing short of life changing for me. I simply could not have done the show without him. Had I brought my old patterns to this larger space it would have inevitably exhausted me far beyond the New York run. Jean-Louis helped me to expand in a way imperative to work in this larger theatre and at this larger stage of my process.”
Visit Heather Raffo’s website at www.heatherraffo.com
Clark is the co-founder and artistic director of the VS. Theatre Company which is dedicated to presenting new plays. Kristof assisted Clark in creating in a believable way the voice and the physicality of the main character as he ages through the play from a 5-year-old boy to adulthood. The play received glowing reviews and was extended beyond its closing date. Kristof is the Alexander Technique teacher in residence for the VS. Theatre Company.
The much awaited book based on his acting and teaching experience, “The Intent to Live” is a must for all actors and anyone interested in the theatre. Larry offers in a very generous and creative way a necessary education which is badly lacking in our young actors today. To quote Larry “Sometimes we feel we have a gift to give that no one can see because we don’t have the tools or the confidence to reveal it. Sometimes we have a raw talent that comes out every now and then, maybe even brilliantly, but because we lack technique we don’t know how to consistently give the gift to its greatest effect.” Inspired acting education and love for the theatre is at the heart of this book and we recommend it wholeheartedly. 
In playwright’s Luis Alfaro’s “Electricidad”, Elisa Bocanegra plays Ifigenia opposite Zilah Mendoza as Electricidad (Electra) in this adaptation of Sophocle’s play transposed to east Los Angeles, the largest Chicano/Mexicano barrio in the U.S.
“Electricidad” had a very successful run with critical acclaim and the Los Angeles Weekly called “Bocanegra’s Ifigenia a marvel of confused, bruised pride- a hawk-eyed, brooding tomboy with matted black hair, a gang-chic vinyl jacket over Catholic nuns’ garb aching for the capacity to do good, to be good.” Congratulations to both Elisa and Zilah for their exceptional performances.
November 2004 Catherine Wyler has spearheaded the High Falls Film Festival since 2001. Sponsored by the Eastman Kodak Company, the festival showcases exceptional work by women in film and independent filmmakers. It is exciting to see the HFFF reach its fourth year with such an excellent track record and high movie industry buzz. Cathy has studied the Alexander Technique and is familiar with the application of the work to acting in film. For the second year, the festival presented a Master Class with Jean-Louis Rodrigue on November 14 at the George Eastman House to a packed audience. Other lectures were given by Mira Nair, Sally Kellerman and Joan Allen.
