Lynn Nottage's RUINED Begins at Burning Coal Theatre Tonight

Burning Coal Theatre Company will present Lynn Nottage's Ruined tonight, April 11 - 28, 2013. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm (4/11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27) and Sundays at 2 pm (4/14, 21, 28) at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors (65+) or $15 for students and active military, or $10 on Thursday nights. Reservations are available at 919-834-4001 or by visiting www.burningcoal.org.

Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize winning drama is set in the present day Congo in Africa amidst the political and economic upheaval of that ravaged country's civil war. The play is about "Mama Nadi", a kind of Congolese 'Mother Courage', who has created a relatively safe environment (a bar that doubles as a brothel) for the half-dozen or so young women who work for her. But, as the civil war becomes more brutal and the stakes are raised, even Mama's bar becomes the target of violence. The play is about the way in which Mama uses her wits to remain apolitical in the midst of a highly charged environment, and ultimately asks if her decision is the right one.

Lynn Nottage's play Crumbs from the Table of Joy was presented by Burning Coal in 2003. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined. Other plays include Intimate Apparel, Las Meninas and Mud, River, Stone. She holds degrees in playwriting from both Yale and Brown University and is a Guggenheim fellow as well as the recipient of a MacArthur Grant. She has also spent time working for Amnesty International.

Rebecca Holderness has directed twelve shows for Burning Coal in sixteen years. They include Love's Labours Lost , Einstein's Dreams (three times), Romeo & Juliet, A Doll House, Travesties, James Joyce's 'the Dead', Miss Julie, Crowns (twice) and Twelfth Night. She is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukeee and has recently directed Burning Coal's Crowns at the Temple in Sanford and our Einstein's Dreams in Washington, DC. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree from Vassar. She recently directed King Lear with Dennis Krausnick at Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts.

Mama Nadi will be played by Rozlyn Sorrell, who recently appeared with Justice Theatre in Black Nativity. Reanna Roane of Greensboro will play Sophie. John Allore of Durham will play Mr. Harari and Byron Jennings of Raleigh will play Christian. Greensboro's Madelyn Poulson will play Salima and Louisburg's William 'Byrd' Wilkins will play Commander Osembenga. Sherida McMullan of Raleigh will play Josephine. The cast is rounded out by Savada Gilmore, Corwin Evans, Gil Faison and Dartez Wright.

Morag Charlton (scenery) is a visual artist who lives and works in Raleigh, NC. She is originally from South Africa. Matthew Adelson (lighting) hails from New York City and currently lives in Lee, Massachusetts. He has lit many shows for Burning Coal including, most recently, Shining City. Aharon Segal (sound) is a deejay who lives in Raleigh. The costumer, Raleigh's Maria Juri, most recently costumed Burning Coal's Good. Properties will be by Raleigh's Lauren Caddick and the production stage manager will be Raleigh's Kim DiPiano. Ken Hinton of Raleigh and Shaw University and Steph Scribner of Knightdale, a recent graduate of Elon University, will serve as assistant directors and Zia Morter of Raleigh will serve as choreographer for the piece. Steven Dupler of New York City will compose the music for Ruined. Raleigh's Jeff Stevenson will be technical director and Molly Eness of Raleigh will be the scenic artist. Barry Jaked of Raleigh will be master electrician and the production dramaturg will be Eric Kildow of Coast Carolina Community College.

For further information about Ruined or Burning Coal Theatre Company, contact Managing Director Simmie Kastner at 919.834.4001 or online at www.burningcoal.org.

Burning Coal Theatre Company is one of Raleigh's small, professional theatres. Burning Coal is an incorporated, non-profit [501 (c) (3)] organization. Burning Coal's mission is to produce literate, visceral, affecting theatre that is experienced, not simply seen. Burning Coal produces explosive reexaminations of overlooked classic and modern plays, as well as new plays, whose themes and issues are of immediate concern to our audience, using the best local, national and International Artists available. We work toward a theatre of high-energy performances and minimalist production values. The emphasis is on literate works that are felt and experienced viscerally, unlike more traditional linear plays, at which audiences are most often asked to observe without participating. Race and gender non-specific casting is an integral component of our perspective, as well as an international viewpoint.

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