Ruined

Ruined, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama a few weeks ago, and is now playing at the Manhattan Theater Club's home base, the New York City Center, is set in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. It has hot-button issues, such as the genital mutilation of girls, and crackles with intensity. Yet it is also an extremely conventional play, structurally speaking. At times you can almost hear the creaking of the plot. This is, however, not a criticism. Lynn Nottage, who is the author of the play, knows her stuff, both in how to craft a play and in how to make an audience of New Yorkers believe they are in a very dangerous spot in Africa.

The setting is a bar and brothel in a mining town in the rainforest. The proprietress is Mama Nadi (Saidah Arrika Ekulona), by turns vivacious and mercenary. She has a touch of Rick Blaine about her, as she serves both the rebels and the government soldiers--she doesn't care who wins, as long as her palm is greased. She has an admirer, a salesman she teasingly calls Professor (Russell G. Jones) who keeps her in soap, condoms and lipstick. One day he has some extra cargo in his truck--two girls, both for sale.

One of them, Salima (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) is a plain and battered woman who has been spurned by her family because of her being used like a rag by a company of rebels. The other, Sophie, is the Professor's niece. She is pretty and sings well, but she can't be a whore--she is "ruined"--she was genitally mutilated, a common and shockingly barbaric practice in many African nations. After much persuading, Mama Nadi agrees to take on Sophie, even though she can't be a working girl.

Over the course of the play, which is over two and a half hours, there is almost a constant tension, especially when the soldiers are in the bar. Both rebels and government men are scary, and even though I was in a comfortable seat in mid-Manhattan I had the sense that violence could break out at any time. I can't begin to imagine how it must be really like in such a place. The ensemble of actors who play multiple roles are brilliant at depicting how young, heavily armed men possess a menace that chills the blood.

Mama Nadi manages to keep the men away from Sophie, though Salima and Josephine (Cherise Boothe) ply their trade. The truth is they are safer working for Mama Nadi than being cast out into the bush. Most of the men seem to treat them well, especially a white mineral dealer (Tom Mardirosian), who promises Josephine he will set her up with an apartment in the big city. Josephine has a chip on her shoulder, frequently reminding others that she is the daughter of a chief, though she is then told that that now means nothing.

Life is cheap here, and even cheaper for women, so Mama Nadi is a pretty remarkable character, and Ekulona gives a bravura performance. But there isn't an actor in this cast that doesn't deserve the highest accolades. Bernstine, as the pathetic but dignified Salima, has a monologue at the opening of Act 2 about how she was abducted by rebels and her baby was murdered that didn't leave a dry eye in the house. Jones is also terrific, a reciter of poetry with a dusty old suit, who begins the play drinking nothing stronger than orange Fanta but ends up falling off the wagon after he is forced to drink whiskey by the government's commander. Condola Rashad, in her New York debut, is Sophie, and if her performance isn't as scintillating as the others it's probably because her role isn't as fully shaped.

The direction by Kate Whoriskey is flawless. The scenic design by Derek McLane effectively recreates the jungle, but I was puzzled by the linoleum floor, which looks like a suburban finished basement. Perhaps this was a practical decision, since many characters go barefoot, but it was out of place.

Ruined is effective melodrama. Yes, there is a certain Swiss watch aspect to it. Perhaps it could have been a little messier, and left a few threads hanging, but there is no denying that it is an emotionally draining evening of theater, and richly deserves its prize.