Play: Ruined

Saw last night the Pulitzer Play winning play Ruined, performed at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre behind Kennedy Theatre.   The play takes place at a bar located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The play addresses human trafficking in woman with the background story being the on-going Congolese civil war and children soldiers.  The storyline is more than engaging.   Understandable why it won the Pulitzer in 2009.   Lead character is Mama Nadi, played by Lillian Jones.   She is on stage for the majority of the play.    When she is on stage with Quantae Love, the play comes alive.   He is a traveling salesman (liquor, cigarettes, lipstick, Belgian chocolates and women).   The bar is also a brothel.   In the opening sequence, he sells two woman for the price of one, Sophie (Denali Lukacinsky) and Salima (Alexis Harvey.  As the play unfolds, we learn that Salima was a young married mother who was captured and held for five months by rebels soldiers before escaping.  As to Sophie, the play takes its name from her condition: the eighteen year old’s genitals were damaged.   After the intro scene, we start meeting the government and the rebel soldiers (never on stage in the bar at the same time) along with Mr. Harari, played by Neal Milner (excellent, as always) and Josephine (Susan Veney), who is the female counterpart to Salima.   Mr. Harari is a diamond merchant.  Lynn Nottage’s play runs approx. 2 hours 30 minutes  + intermission.    This play is worth seeing.  Unfortunately, it’s only remaining performances are tonight (8:00) and tomorrow afternoon (2:00).   Last night showing was a sellout.   It is a large cast (15 characters) for the size of the theatre but play runs smoothly under the direction of Troy Apostol.   By focusing on the characters, the audience becomes engaged and only afterwards do you realize the political complexities presented.   Play was done at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2010 but I missed it.    I doubt if anyone toped the performance given by Quantae.   Most of the cast members are UH students.   With such a strong script, they all did fine.  The play presents the complexity of a civil war in the context of one woman trying to make a living amidst the chaos of a violent war.   As presented by the play and Lillian’s performance, Mama is a very complex character.   The play is a success because Mama is not presented as a stereotype madam.

Last night there was a Q/A after the play.   It was stated that this is the first African-American play presented at UH.   If this is true, a very sad commentary as to UH.    How could a college that prides itself on its diversity wait until 2014 to present an African-American playwright?