Customer Reviews

Ruined

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To understand the emotional devastation and the tremendous heart of the women who live in the Congo - you must see this play!

Simply put ... this is one of the best plays I've ever read! Beautiful, brutal, hopeful, angry - this is a masterpiece. I've been a theatre director for over twenty-five years and there are only a handful of plays that I couldn't put down once I'd started reading - William M. Hoffman's "As Is", Tony Kushner's "Angels In America - Millennium Approaches" and John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt, come to mind. Nattage's "Ruined" is far and away one of the best I've come across in a long time. What a way to start 2010!

A brothel can be a battlefield as much as anywhere else. Lynn Nottage's "Ruined" is a script for a play that has won several best plays of 2009 awards. Set in a Congo brothel during a civil war, "Ruined" tells of the plight of the women, when the men seem to care only about power and little else. "Ruined" proves why it's acclaimed, offering much food for thought in its text form.

One of the best plays written.I saw it performed and I read it and its get betterand better each time i read it. Anyone wanting to touch the heartbeat of what is going on in the world should pick this up. Changing the world everyday. Amazing work

This is an amazing play. Outstanding dialouge and all the characters have such meat to them. I was happy to have read this outstanding play from a really good talent. A must read.

Received it just as described. The book is in the condition I expected it to be in. I would purchase from this supplier in the future.

Well written-not preachy.

Africa is a continent of many inherited problems from post colonial rule, this painful play helps a Yank break it down by its strength of characters and setting.

I now can make a connection of how cell phone consumption can impact women negatively in Congo.

A great read-way better and more powerful - than Little Bee: A Novel.

A schocking portrayal of some of the events that have befallen women in the Congo and how they struggle to survive with some type of dignity.

This play is great! It is very emotionally gripping and was extremely well researched by the author to be as good of a representation of the real situation in the Congo as possible. I highly recommend it to all readers and especially to those active in the theater community. And if you get the chance to see this play, jump on it!!!

My interest in this play stems from ongoing reading about women in the Congo as well as this author's (Lynn Nottage) trip to Uganda. Her interviews with Ugandan war victims not only informed the play, but tightens the distance between news reports and actual testimonials about what happens to women there.

Ruined means that a woman is so brutally raped that she cannot even turn to prostitution to support herself (which could be a 'logical' choice following the rejection by her community and family for 'letting it happen.'). The play occurs in Congolese war-territory where rape is the weapon of choice, intended not only to humiliate the victim/family/village but also to render the womb useless.

In the opening scenes, we are introduced to two teenage girls who have been brutalized, and are now brought into Mama Nadi's brothel as potential products; the charming 'pimp' has to negotiate especially hard to convince Mama Nadi to take on the ruined girl: not only is the girl ruined, but her odor implies she's suffering from untreated fistula (as would be the case with penetration by a bayonet or other rigid/sharp object).

Despite the extreme violence that permeates the territory, it's startling to see how casually the events are played out... not only the violence that precipitated the introduction of the girls, but also the lack of morality or compassion with regard to taking these girls into the brothel. In fact, it's difficult to figure out if Mama Nadi exploits her girls or actually offers them protection. The end of the play presents a far different picture of Mama Nadi than what we see in the beginning.

There's a constant sense of the violence that surrounds the bar; how small this place is against the vastness of the land and atrocities outside. But Mama Nadi single-handedly upholds the rules about what goes on within her walls. You can't help but wonder how she accomplishes this, or where it comes from. The story reminds me of the many women of war-torn nations who remarkably and admirably manage to regain or find new strength and carry on.

I think this is a riveting read; I'm looking forward to seeing the play and hearing the music.