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.