Photo Flash: RUINED Playwright Lynn Nottage Honored By New York City Leaders

Pulitzer Prize winner and Brooklyn native Lynn Nottage was honored by Speaker of the New York City Council The Honorable Christine C. Quinn, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and New York City Council Member Letitia James following the Tuesday, August 11th performance of RUINED at Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center- Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

Immediately after the curtain call, Nottage was joined by the company of RUINED and director Kate Whoriskey, and was presented with proclamations from Speaker Quinn, Borough President Markowitz and Council Member James.

In the proclamation signed by Marty Markowitz, the Borough of Brooklyn officially declared Tuesday, August 11, 2009 to be "Lynn Nottage Recognition Day in Brooklyn."

When RUINED ends its run on Sunday, September 6th, it will become the longest-running production in MTC's 25-year history at New York City Center. The production has been extended an astounding eight times, and on its final performance on September 6th, will have played a total of 260 performances (including previews). Previously, the theatre's longest running production at City Center was the 1991 production of Terrence McNally's Lips Together, Teeth Apart which ran 255 performances (including previews).

From Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, the author of such plays as Fabulation and Intimate Apparel and director Kate Whoriskey (The Piano Teacher, Fabulation), comes this haunting, probing work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war. Set in a small mining town in Democratic Republic of Congo, this powerful play follows Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman in a land torn apart by civil war. But is she protecting or profiting by the women she shelters? How far will she go to survive? Can a price be placed on a human life?

RUINED is the most acclaimed new play of 2009, having received the following awards:

* 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
    - RUINED is the first Off-Broadway play to receive the Pulitzer since 2000.
* New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play
* Two Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Play and Outstanding Music for a Play
    - RUINED is the first Off-Broadway play to receive the Outstanding Play Award in 10 years.
* The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play
* Two Lucille Lortel Awards including Outstanding Play
* Four OBIE Awards including Best New American Play
    - Current cast members Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Russell G. Jones also received OBIE awards for their performances in RUINED
* A Theatre World Award for cast member Condola Rashad
* The Clarence Derwent Award for cast member Quincy Tyler Bernstine.

Tickets for RUINED ARE $75, and are available via New York City Center Box Office (131 West 55th Street), CityTix® (212-581-1212) and www.nycitycenter.org.

For more information, visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

Photos by Jakob Layman and Joel Feldman

Lynn Nottage, Amyre Loomis and Portia

Mandy Greenfield, Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage and Amyre Loomis

Mandy Greenfield, Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage, Amyre Loomis and Portia

Mandy Ringfield, Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage, Amyre Loomis and the Cast of 'Ruined'

Mandy Greenfield, Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage, Amyre Loomis and the Cast of 'Ruined'

Lynn Nottage

Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage, Mandy Greenfield and the Cast of 'Ruined'

Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage and Mandy Greenfield