Ruined Playtext

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by Lynn Nottage

Tanika Gupta Recommends… Ruined by Lyn Nottage

Ruined is a haunting, probing work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war told from the perspective of women. I saw this play at the Almeida Theatre in 2011 and it has stayed with me over the years. Mama Nadi is a powerful character - a survivor with a tough exterior. However, in the midst of the inhuman civil war, this play gives us a beautiful glimpse of a love story. Lynn Nottage is a brilliant, political writer; a playwright at the top of her game. Other plays by her I would recommend: Sweat and Fabulation. 

A passionate, heartfelt play about surviving in a time of civil war, by a leading American dramatist. 

Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2009 

A small mining town deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Mama Nadi’s bar her rules apply. No arguments, no politics, no guns. 

When two new girls arrive, tainted with the stigma of their recent past, Mama is forced to reassess her business priorities and personal loyalties. As tales of local atrocities spread and tensions between rebels and government militia rise, the realities of life in civil war provide the ultimate test of the human spirit. 

The volume includes lyrics and music from the original production.