SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #17 - Ruined (2009, New York City Center Stage I, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York, NY)
Introduction: Hard as it is to comprehend that we're already 119 months into this "new" millennium, we are fast approaching the end of its first decade. While we have yet to agree on what exactly we should call the '00s, I'll take a cue from the fine folks at The Times of London and the BBC and henceforth refer to them at the Noughties. With that small introduction, I'm pleased to present my list of plays and musicals that wowed me the most during that time. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of shows I've seen over the last ten years, I give you my countdown of my 25 personal favorite shows of the Noughties. It wasn't until the second act of
Lynn Nottage's devastatingly exceptional
Ruined that we learned the Congolese people's secret for surviving recurring civil wars. According to one central character, they must simply pretend to ignore the inhumanity all around them. But
Ruined was much too excellent to ignore as its Pulitzer Prize underscored.
What Nottage and director
Kate Whoriskey achieved with this heartstopping production was nothing short of monumental. They skillfully succeeded in placing many a human face on those who are grossly dehumanized even if it ranks as one of the most difficult plays I ever sat through.
Nottage created some of the year's most remarkable female roles, including a madame named Mama Nadi (a superb
Portia) whose brothel doors are open to military officials and rebels alike. Nottage endowed each of her central characters with a breathtaking resilience, and a surprising degree of good humor. Ultimately, they demonstrated grace and resolve in their desperate attempts to rise above it all.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for this performance.Labels: Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage, Off-Broadway, Play, Portia, Pulitzer Prize, Ruined, SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties
Ruined (The SOB Review) - New York City Center Stage I, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York, NY
**** (out of ****)It isn't until the second act of
Lynn Nottage's devastatingly exceptional
Ruined that we learn the Congolese people's secret for surviving recurring civil wars. According to one central character, they must simply pretend to ignore the inhumanity all around them.
But
Ruined is much too excellent to ignore. Unlike the Congolese, all too many Americans go on about their lives, blissfully unaware of the violent savagery occurring on a daily basis in places like the Congo. Of course, simply ignoring it doesn't mean it's not happening.
What Nottage and director
Kate Whoriskey have achieved with this heartstopping production is nothing short of monumental. They have skillfully succeeded in placing many a human face on those who are grossly dehumanized.
While
Ruined's title specifically refers to the unspeakable rape and mutilation of Congo's women, it most certainly serves as an apt metaphor for the war-ravaged nation itself. Yet ostensibly, this is a story about the harrowing humiliation Congolese women endure, ranging from the scourge of rape to the rejection from their families after suffering at the hands of others. It should be noted that Nottage crafted her script from actual heartwrenching interviews with women "who bravely shared their stories."
Perhaps it's because of those first-hand accounts that Nottage so painstakingly and vividly creates some of the year's most remarkable female roles. Chief among them is the madame named Mama Nadi (a superb
Portia) whose brothel doors are open to military officials and rebels alike. She houses three women, including Josephine (a swaggering
Cherise Booth as a boastful daughter of a former chief) and two young women who have been brought to the safehouse the brothel has become -- Salima (a devastating
Quincy Tyler Bernstine) and Sophie, the eponymously described victim Sophie (played during my performance by a heart-shattering Rachael Holmes).
Fortunately, given the myriad letches of men, Nottage provides one decent soul among them --an earnest businessman named Christian (a brilliant
Russell G. Jones), who is not only trying to defy all odds by staying above the civil war's fray, but is also on a seemingly quixotic pursuit toward finding love among the
Ruined.
Nottage endows each of her central characters with a breathtaking resilience, and a surprising degree of good humor, which undoubtedly serves as a much-needed salve for sheer survival. Ultimately, they demonstrate grace and resolve in their desperate attempts to rise above it all.
Ruined may very well be the most singular difficult play I've ever sat through. Even as my heart is still racing one day after seeing it, I can't think of a production that has so thoroughly affected me and awakened me from a complacency quite the way this excellent play has. It is without question the best new work I've seen in 2009.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning
Ruined has already been extended several times, but it will close on September 6. You simply can't afford not to see it.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Cherise Boothe, Kate Whoriskey, Lynn Nottage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Off-Broadway, Play, Portia, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Rachael Holmes, Ruined, Russell G. Jones, The SOB Review
