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| Oberon K.A. Adjepong and Tonye Patano, photo by Kevin Berne |
Whose stories moved you? How and why?
What do you think happens to Mama Nadi, Christian, Sophie, and Josephine after the curtain comes down?
Did you attend a post show conversation? What comments surprised you or made you think differently about the play? Would you attend a post show conversation again? What were you thinking about on the way home from the theatre?
Leave your comments here
The Huntington Theatre Company production of Ruined by Lynn Nottage plays now through February 6, 2011 at the B.U. Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Get tickets and information or call our Box Office at 617 266-0800
15 comments:
THANK YOU for getting me to this play. I generally don't like plays on topical political subjects, but this was AMAZING. The play and production were riveting from beginning to end. Nottage is a stunning talent and the actors, designers, director et. al. did a great job of bringing this remarkable play to a remarkable performance. I'm an English Professor at BU and you can be sure I will spread the word about this tightly written, lyrical, compassionate, honest, terrifying and beautiful play.
Magical, transporting, enlightening. The acting, music and dance, the finest! Please go.
I was completely blown away. I am a theater major and seeing a play like Ruined is the reason why I chose my major. From the script, the set and the incredible acting, I was moved beyond tears throughout this monumental show. I congratulate The Huntington for choosing and producing such a unique and important show. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet to this show, I strongly encourage you to do so. As always, The Huntington staff, crew and cast were amazing...thank you for an unforgettable evening of theater.
There is no way to convey how I felt throughout this show...joy to horror. One has to wonder how things could be different if we put some of the resources used in Irag and Afganistan to use in this situation. The fact that it still exists is even more upsetting. That being said, the performance was wonderful, and definately deserves the Pulitzer.
I'd decided to take my beautiful girlfriend on a date, but wanted to do something different. At the very last minute, 2hrs before the show, I thought, "How nice it would be to see a play." This was probably one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. We cried, we laughed, we were scared and excited and we were inspired.
I haven't seen a play since college and I plan to make a strong effort to bathe in the love of Huntington Theater more frequently.
The play Ruined, extended the dynamic range of the heart. I never new I could experience such extremities in a live performance. Thank you to the characters, Sophie and Mama Nadi; I feel in tuned with the world and with the culture of my people.
“Ruined” is theatre at its absolute best. Bravo to the cast for their dynamic, courageous, spell-binding performances. There’s a kind of seamless unity to the script, the set, the music, the acting. Everything just flows with an amazing economy and power. The set immediately establishes a sense of place with wonderful details giving warmth to Mama Nadi’s bar/brothel. (So much better than the NYC set!) I loved the beautiful horizon of lights in the distance, which take us beyond Mama Nadi’s, to the broader world of the Congo with all its beauty and violence, and yet offering the comfort of a limitless horizon. Once the play began, I was struck by the power of the performances—it felt like I was meeting these characters, and was immediately caught up in their lives, rooting for them to overcome. These are complicated characters in challenging circumstances, but they are never clichés, never stereotypes. They are respectfully drawn and fully lived on the stage. This play takes us to the Congo, but it illustrates world-wide struggles of women and girls, which touch us more than many people imagine. The play does not preach—it shows. It is no wonder that Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer for this elegant, heart-rending, and also humanely hopeful script. Liesl Tommy’s direction is masterful. I saw the play early in the run, and will be back for the closing weekend. Thank you Huntington, for bringing this play to Boston.
Act I was some of the best theatre I've every seen in Boston. Gripping, emotionally vivid, entirely convincing. Think Nottage lost her nerve in Act II...or at least didn't know how to bring the play in for a landing. While the performances continued to be top caliber, the "moving parts" started to show. You weren't in the DRC anymore, but at a play. In fact it felt you were in the playwright's mind working through structural questions and figuring out exactly how grim a message to send the audience. Deserved the Pulitzer, but it's so good that Nottage should really take another pass at the second half.
The play was wonderful. I was moved to tears. Even though theater cigarettes are used there is too much smoke in the theater as a result...
Ruined was incredibly powerful, and brilliantly acted -- one of the very best things I've seen at the Huntington, and I've been a subscriber for many, many years.
[spoiler ahead] One of our party was completely put off by the "happy ending", and I must admit that while it made me feel better, I can't say that I believed it either. It seems that the Commander would have likely burned down the house rather than undertaken a mere "pogrom". Of course, that wouldn't have been much of an ending! I was just wondering how the actors felt about the resolution.
Thanks again for presenting us with something so moving!
Emotionally riveting. Acting was superb!! So well done. I was on the edge of my seat and spellbound. One of the most important works of art I've ever seen. This should be available to everyone.
Thank you cast, crew, and author!!
A very special production-- a moving, frightening, musical (yes, musical) play, political but not polemic, dramatic but not melodramatic, and continually absorbing.
A very fine play to be sure, but to my mind the kudos go to the cast-- Mama and Christian were mesmerizing, and Josephine, Sophie, and Salima were outstanding. These were great performances.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
What an exceptional experience!! More than just the story of survival in the times of war, more than the traditions of a village, but an insightful look into the concept of violence to women all over the world, and survival. It's a love story of the roughest, and most emotional kind. FANTASTIC!!! Love, hate, lost, resiliency, strenght, hope and more.
Our experience at Huntington Theatre was fabulous. "Ruined" was one of the best we've seen in quite awhile. It was intense, funny, and emotional. Just what we need to survive the Winter this year in NE. We will surely return in the future.
Both my friend and I (both long-time subscribers) felt that this was probably a great play; however, we understood only about half of the dialogue, not because of its volume, but because of the accents, which struck us both as being pseudo-Caribbean. Surely people in the Congo would not have spoken English at all (perhaps French?), so why the accents?
Joan, I'm sorry your enjoyment of the production was impacted by the challenge you faced in understanding the actors' accents.
You are correct in thinking that the characters would likely be speaking French in the real world, and many of the foreign words in the play are indeed from that language. The DRC was founded as a Belgian colony, and French is still spoken by many of the citizens, in addition to Swahili and other more local dialects.
For this production, the actors worked with a dialect coach to capture the Congolese accent, and we had many audience members who had themselves been to the Congo that commented on their authenticity.
Another production of RUINED posted a video of an actual Congolese citizen speaking in English on their blog. Take a listen: http://ruined-obsidian.blogspot.com/2010/06/congolese-accent.
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