BWW Reviews: RUINED at Arena Stage - Compelling and Astonishing

I wondered how to tell my friends why you must see Ruined at the Arena Stage.

I tell them, "It takes place during a civil war in the Congo where women must fight for their lives. Oh, it's funny, musical, there's plenty of dancing, you'll learn some history, and you'll come away a different person."  It doesn't always work.

Lynn Nottage has become one of my favorite playwrights. My first introduction to her work was the Center Stage production of Intimate Apparel. This was followed by the Center Stage production of Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine.  I happened to meet Nottage at Lincoln Center and told her I thought Intimate Apparel would work beautifully as a musical. She replied quickly, "I was thinking maybe an opera."

It seems music  always seems to play a part in her work. And like Intimate Apparel,  Ruined could become a musical.

Ruined began as a co-production between  the Manhattan Theatre Club and Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2009.  The heart of the play is Mama Nadi, played by the brilliant English actress Jenny Jules, who owns a bar in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.  (Jules has all the makings of becoming a superstar.)  Some may recall the country as it was known as the Belgian Congo.  One is reminded of that fact when a great deal is made of delicious Belgian chocolate.

Mama Nadi must keep peace between both sides of a civil war and she does so by offering cold beer and beds for her prostitutes to each side of the war.  Just imagine a house of prostitution during the American Civil War where both Union  and Confederate soldiers were served equally.

Nottage's research actually took her to the Congo where she interviewed Congolese women.  According to  Nottage, "One moment they could tell these absolutely horrific stories, but then they resurrected themselves by finding happiness and accessing their resilience.  Hopefully the play will get people to do something to help the Congo."

Thankfully, Arena Stage makes this easy. The program It lists eight various charities that help the women of the Congo.  The day of my performance, Women for Women International was distributing information about their programs to assist women in Eastern Congo. (Visit www.womenforwomen.org or call 202-737-7705.)

And when Nottage speaks of horrific stories, she does not leave much to the imagination. Both sides of the war are guilty of rape and mutilation of women (where the title of the play comes from).  The United Nations called the DRC the "rape capital of the world." Do not be put off by this despicable subject.  For Mama Nadi knows all too well what these women have undergone and her business probably is the only sanctuary for her "girls" who have been brutalized by soldiers and many rejected by their families.

To help keep peace within the confines of her bar, everyone knows Mama Nadi's rule that while weapons of war are allowed inside, she requires the soldiers to remove bullets from their automatic weapons. They all oblige.

Arena Stage's Resident Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright (Director of the Arena Stage acclaimed production of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies)  does a masterful job and has assembled a superb cast.

Jeremiah W. Birkett (Christian) has the enviable task of trying to eak out a living during the war as a traveling salesman who while selling goods to the bar, tries to convince Mama Nadi to take in two women.  Very soon after the play begins we are introduced to Sophie (Christian's sister's only daughter played by Rachael Holmes) and Salima (Donnetta Gray).  Mama looks them over carefully before finally succumbing to the request of Christian to take both young women.  Each is  superb in their own right.

With such a subject, thank goodness there is terrific music written by Lindsay Jones who is also responsible for the sound. There are about five numbers and the terrific musicians who perform at Mama's bar are David Forman (Percussionist), Mongezi Chris Ntaka (Guitar, Composer, Music Director), Walter Roberstson (Guitarist), and Daniel Ssuuna (Traditional African Instrumentalist).  Helping with the dancing is Keith LaMelle Thomas (Movement Consultant), a native Baltimorean and graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts.

There are also local connections in the cast. Jamairais Malone of Columbia Heights makes her Arena Stage debut as the prostitute Josephine while the ensemble features students from the University of Maryland:  Jamar Brown, Ellentinya I. dod, Thony Mena, David Samuel, Anastasia Stewart and Hectorlyne P. Wuor. What an experience this must be for these future thespians.

The topic of the brutality of war recently made the cover page of the New York Times Magazine on May 1, 2011 with the title "A Beast in the Heart" which discusses the allegation of American soldiers accused of murdering Afghan civilians. The topic is certainly timely.

Following the Friday, June 3 performance, there will be a free discussion called "A Pen and a Passport: A Playwright's Journey Writing Abroad" with Arena Stage Resident Playwrights.

For tickets call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

 

Arena Stage Notes

Also playing currently is the World Premiere of A Time to Kill based on the novel by John Grisham. It plays until June 19, 2011.

The acclaimed production of Oklahoma (winner of four Helen Hayes Awards) returns and will run July 8 to October 2, 2011. Oklahoma shattered all box office records at Arena Stage.

Another Lynn Nottage play, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, has opened at the Second Stage Theatre in New York. It was recently given three stars in the May 27, 2011 edition of the magazine "The Week."

                                The Arena Stage 2011/12 Season has been announced.

Trouble in Mind - Sept. 9 to Oct. 23, 2011 - Starring E. Faye Butler and Directed by Irene Lewis

Equivocation - Nov. 18- Jan. 1, 2012

You Nero - Nov. 25 to Jan. 1 2012

Red - January 20- March 4, 2012 (2010 Tony Award Winner for Best Play)

Ah, Wilderness - March 9 to April 8, 2012

Long Day's Journey Into Night - March 30, 2012 to May 13, 2012

The Music Man - May 11 to July 22, 2012 - Meredith Wilson's Classic Musical)

Like Water for Chocolate - June 8 - July 29, 2012 -World Premiere Pre-Broadway Musical

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.

Photos by Joan Marcus

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com

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