BWW Reviews: RUINED at the Intiman

The Intiman Theatre scores a hit with their third show of the season, Lynn Nottage's "Ruined".  But then with a Pulitzer Prize winning play with many of the original cast returning how could you go wrong? 

"Ruined" follows the harsh stories from a brothel in the Democratic Republic of Congo as its proprietor, Mama Nadi, tries to keep her "business" alive in the midst of a horrific war while still keeping herself and the girls in her employ safe.  But it's a fine line she walks between taking care of these damaged women and putting them to work for her to keep her patrons and the soldiers happy at all costs.

After seeing the show, one can see why it's such an acclaimed play and award winner.  It's a hard hitting political piece set in a part of the world that most of us don't know much about.  And it's quite a cruel world at that.  With two different armies struggling for power, and by the end, you're not sure which ones are the good guys as they both claim to be there to liberate the people yet both use the people in this bar as their personal playthings.  Add into that the horrendous tales that led these women to this life and this place and you have a stark and unflinching look at a life far from any most of us know.  At least I hope so.

The cast is nothing less than stellar.  A tight ensemble each with their moment to shine.  And as I said, most of them come from the original production, each of whom has had the time to develop and hone their characters and performances to a razors edge.  And cut they do.  Condola Rashad as the "Ruined" Sophie switches from singing like an angel to struggling to keep her life and dignity at the drop of a hat and with grace.  Cherise Boothe as Josephine is stunning as the experienced veteran of the brothel who longs to do nothing more than get out whether she admits it or not.  And Russell G. Jones as Christian breaks your heart throughout as a man just trying to keep these women he loves safe.  But the stand outs of the show would have to be Portia as Mama Nadi and Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Salima.  Portia balances her duplicity of calculating business woman and protector with such skill that you have trouble seeing where she is coming from or going to right down to the final moments where we finally see her motivation and it all becomes clear.  And Bernstine is outstanding as the young woman forced into this life through circumstances and the unfeeling nature of men and her family.  Her monologue where we discover the tragic moments that led her here is a sublime performance.  Too often I see people dipping into a standard bag of tricks for monologues such as this.  But Bernstine is focused and completely truthful as a woman who has just gone over The Edge without anyone noticing.  It's a haunting and chilling performance.

Kate Whoriskey does a wonderful job bringing all of these characters together although 85 percent of a director's job is to find the right cast and this is the right cast.  And a cast that has much experience with the work which I'm sure made her job quite easy.  All of which makes this the best thing I've seen come from the Intiman in some time. 

But this show is not for the faint of heart.  Yes, there is some humor to the piece (believe it or not) but it is also a hard slap in the face of reality that will leave you pondering your own life (and I'm sure thankful for it) all the way home.  But then, that's what really good theater does, right?

"Ruined" plays at Seattle's Intiman Theatre through August 15^th.  For tickets or information contact the Intiman box office at 206-269-1900 or visit them online at www.intiman.org.

Photo Credit: Chris Bennion

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