Ruined (play)
Encyclopedia
Ruined is a play by Lynn Nottage
. The play won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
.
The play involves the plight of women in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
(Chicago, Illinois) and is a co-production with the Manhattan Theatre Club
. Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey
traveled to Uganda to interview women as background for the play, which first was performed in 2007 in the Goodman Theatre New Stages Series. The play premiered in November 2008 at the Goodman Theatre and ran through December 7. It opened off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club
, New York City Center – Stage I in previews on January 21, 2009, and officially on February 10, 2009. The production closed on September 6, 2009 after receiving nine extensions.
Both productions were directed by Kate Whoriskey
, with a cast that included Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Cherise Boothe, Condola Rashad, Chiké Johnson, Kevin Mambo, William Jackson Harper, Chris Chalk, Russell G. Jones, Tom Mardirosian, Ron McBee, Simon Shabantu Kashama and Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Mama Nadi) who left the production in May 2009 and was replaced by Portia. Scenic design was by Paul Tazewell, costume design by Derek McLane
, original music was by Dominic Kanza, and lyrics by Lynn Nottage.
The European Premiere of Ruined, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, opened for previews on April 15, 2010- with press night on April 22, 2010- and closed June 5, 2010 at The Almeida Theatre in London
in April 2010. With a cast that included Jenny Jules
, Lucian Msamati
, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Michelle Asante, Kehinde Fadipe, Okezie Morro, Silas Carson, David Ajala, Joel Kangudi, Steve Toussaint and Damola Adelaja. Jenny Jules
won the 2010 Critic's Circle Award for Best Actress for her performance in this production.
Ruined ran during the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
in 2010.
It ran at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
through April 30, 2011.
in his The New York Times
review, wrote: "Ms. Nottage, the wide-ranging and increasingly confident author of Intimate Apparel and Fabulation or, the Re-Education of Undine, hooks her audience with promises of a conventionally structured, purposefully plotted play, stocked with sympathetic characters and informative topical detail. She delivers on those promises. Yet a raw and genuine agony pulses within and finally bursts through this sturdy framework, giving Ruined an impact that lingers beyond its well-shaped, sentimental ending. . . . Ms. Nottage has endowed the frail-looking Sophie, as well as the formidable Mama, with a strength that transforms this tale of ruin into a clear-eyed celebration of endurance."
Drama Desk Awards
Outer Critics Circle Award
Drama League Award
Lucille Lortel Award
Obie Awards
has published the script. Ruined began stocking in stores November 1, 2009.
Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of women of African descent, African Americans and women. She was born in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a MacArthur Genius...
. The play won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
.
The play involves the plight of women in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
Production history
Ruined was commissioned by the Goodman TheatreGoodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
(Chicago, Illinois) and is a co-production with the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
. Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey
Kate Whoriskey
Kate Whoriskey was the artistic director of the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, USA, for a year, departing in April, 2011 after the theater's board cancelled the remainder of the 2011 season due to financial problems. Whoriskey had been co-Artistic Director of Intiman along with Bartlett...
traveled to Uganda to interview women as background for the play, which first was performed in 2007 in the Goodman Theatre New Stages Series. The play premiered in November 2008 at the Goodman Theatre and ran through December 7. It opened off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
, New York City Center – Stage I in previews on January 21, 2009, and officially on February 10, 2009. The production closed on September 6, 2009 after receiving nine extensions.
Both productions were directed by Kate Whoriskey
Kate Whoriskey
Kate Whoriskey was the artistic director of the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, USA, for a year, departing in April, 2011 after the theater's board cancelled the remainder of the 2011 season due to financial problems. Whoriskey had been co-Artistic Director of Intiman along with Bartlett...
, with a cast that included Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Cherise Boothe, Condola Rashad, Chiké Johnson, Kevin Mambo, William Jackson Harper, Chris Chalk, Russell G. Jones, Tom Mardirosian, Ron McBee, Simon Shabantu Kashama and Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Mama Nadi) who left the production in May 2009 and was replaced by Portia. Scenic design was by Paul Tazewell, costume design by Derek McLane
Derek McLane
Derek McLane is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and musical theatre). He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama....
, original music was by Dominic Kanza, and lyrics by Lynn Nottage.
The European Premiere of Ruined, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, opened for previews on April 15, 2010- with press night on April 22, 2010- and closed June 5, 2010 at The Almeida Theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in April 2010. With a cast that included Jenny Jules
Jenny Jules
Jenny Jules is an award-winning English actress of stage and screen. She started her acting career as a member of the youth theatre program at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, London...
, Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati, sometimes credited as Wiina Msamati, is a British-born film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati was born in the United Kingdom and brought up in Zimbabwe by his Tanzanian parents, a doctor and a nurse, he is the eldest of four siblings...
, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Michelle Asante, Kehinde Fadipe, Okezie Morro, Silas Carson, David Ajala, Joel Kangudi, Steve Toussaint and Damola Adelaja. Jenny Jules
Jenny Jules
Jenny Jules is an award-winning English actress of stage and screen. She started her acting career as a member of the youth theatre program at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, London...
won the 2010 Critic's Circle Award for Best Actress for her performance in this production.
Ruined ran during the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
in 2010.
It ran at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts ' is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, a graduate-level training school for actors, acting classes for the community and rental...
through April 30, 2011.
Critical response
Ben BrantleyBen Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
in his The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review, wrote: "Ms. Nottage, the wide-ranging and increasingly confident author of Intimate Apparel and Fabulation or, the Re-Education of Undine, hooks her audience with promises of a conventionally structured, purposefully plotted play, stocked with sympathetic characters and informative topical detail. She delivers on those promises. Yet a raw and genuine agony pulses within and finally bursts through this sturdy framework, giving Ruined an impact that lingers beyond its well-shaped, sentimental ending. . . . Ms. Nottage has endowed the frail-looking Sophie, as well as the formidable Mama, with a strength that transforms this tale of ruin into a clear-eyed celebration of endurance."
Awards and nominations
Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama - Winner
Drama Desk Awards
- Outstanding Play – Winner
- Outstanding Actress in a Play, Saidah Arrika Ekulona – (nomination)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Condola Rashad – (nomination)
- Outstanding Director of a Play, Kate WhoriskeyKate WhoriskeyKate Whoriskey was the artistic director of the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, USA, for a year, departing in April, 2011 after the theater's board cancelled the remainder of the 2011 season due to financial problems. Whoriskey had been co-Artistic Director of Intiman along with Bartlett...
– (nomination) - Outstanding Music in a PlayDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a PlayThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
, Dominic Kanza - Winner
Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
- Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play – Winner
- Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) – Peter Kaczorowski (nomination)
- Outstanding Actress in a Play – Saidah Arrika Ekulona (nomination)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – Condola Rashad (nomination)
Drama League Award
Drama League Award
The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
- Distinguished Production of a Play (nomination)
- Distinguished Performance Award, Saidah Arrika Ekulona (nomination)
Lucille Lortel Award
- Outstanding Play (Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre, Producer; Lynn Nottage, Playwright) – Winner
- Outstanding Director (nomination)
- Outstanding Lead Actress – Saidah Arrika Ekulona Winner
Obie Awards
- Best New American Play Winner
- Performance
- Quincy Tyler Bernstine Winner
- Saidah Arrika Ekulona Winner
- Russell Gebert Jones Winner
In print
Theatre Communications GroupTheatre Communications Group
Theatre Communications Group is an organization dedicated to the promotion of non-profit professional theatre in the United States. TCG has over 450 member theatres located in 47 states; 17,000 individual members; and a growing number of University, Funder, Business and Trustee Affiliates...
has published the script. Ruined began stocking in stores November 1, 2009.
External links
- Internet Off-Broadway Database listing
- Sommer, Elyse. "Review, Ruined", Curtain Up, February 5, 2009
- Charlie Rose interview about production of Ruined, July 14, 2009, 12 minute video