Nina Domingue’s New Orleans-set Mo Pas Connin, or Torment has become more resonant in the year since it premiered as part of Cleveland Public Theatre’s Big [Box] series. Hurricane Katrina, of course, added a great deal of poignancy to Domingue’s one-woman show, in which she portrays nine different characters.

But there was also some self-discovery over the past 12 months. “I learned a lot,” says Domingue, who begins a two-week stand at CPT tonight. “I was able to get a clearer picture of things. It feels like a brand-new play.”

Mo Pas Connin (which is Creole for “the many things that torment me so”) tells the story of an aging New Orleans voodoo priestess who is given an ultimatum by a mythical goddess: Reconcile with your estranged family, or you will lose it forever. Domingue explores the brood’s dynamics by channeling various members. “I had a very pressing need to talk about home,” says Domingue, who was born in New Orleans, but now lives in Cleveland. “And the cultural elements of the show are some of the most important things to me, now that Katrina has happened. The people will always be there, but the culture is going to be changed forever.”
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.; Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Starts: Feb. 10. Continues through Feb. 23

This article appears in Feb 8-14, 2006.