Lynn Nottage’s compelling drama “Ruined,” at Arena Stage, deals primarily in large moments and emotions. It begins with a display of anger, then moves to fury, threatening, violence, jealousy and aggression. Yet it is because of this surface noise that the rare, intimate moments of “Ruined” have the profound effect they do, delivering Nottage’s stunning message about survival in spite of devastation. The big, brassy emotions of “Ruined” are a function of the fact that the play is set in the Congo during the Second Congo War, which involved many nations and tribes. Millions of people were killed, millions more were displaced.
In addition, almost 50,000 women were taken by rebels or soldiers who raped or “ruined” them with sexual violation. Nottage’s play is based on interviews she did with many women who lived through that horror. Her Mama Nadi (Jenny Jules) is the strong, independent, pragmatic owner of a brothel, where soldiers, miners and farmers come to drink and relax.
| ONSTAGE |
| ‘Ruined’ |
| » Where: Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW |
| » When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday |
| » Info: Tickets begin at $55; 202-488-3300; arenastage.org |
Director Charles Randolph-Wright neatly controls the madness that is built into the war, creating a sense of order in spite of the chaos. Nadi is the constant and central focus of “Ruined” and is onstage almost every moment of the play. Whether she is singing, dancing or speaking, Jules has a proud, commanding, powerful presence.
Randolph-Wright has assembled a strong cast to play the very different girls who live at Mama Nadi’s: Salima (Donnetta Lavinia Grays), a married woman who cannot return home after having been “ruined;” the lanky, gregarious Josephine (Jamairais Malone); and the shy, fearful Sophie (Rachael Holmes), who becomes a singer, seducing men into the bar with her voice, while her walk still reflects the torture in her past.
The men in “Ruined” represent the best and the worst of human nature. Christian (Jeremiah W. Birkett) gives an outstanding performance as a man who begins and ends as a positive force in Mama Nadi’s life. The wealthy older miner, a regular at Mama Nadi’s bar, is portrayed with cynical intensity by Lawrence Redmond.
Rowdy soldiers and different factions of rebels loyal to one leader or another swirl in and out of Mama Nadi’s, carefully orchestrated by movement consultant Keith Thomas. The energetic dance segments are accompanied by an onstage band, comprised of four talented musicians playing the dynamic original music of Lindsay Jones.
After the noise, the explosions, the gunshots, the shouting, Nottage does finally end her play on a still, silent note. Coming after all the sound and the fury, that silence is deafening.
