Lynn Nottage’s Ruined arrives in London festooned with awards — including a Pulitzer – and it’s easy to see why. Engaging where it might in less skilful hands have been crassly confrontational, it’s a disturbing portrait of the conflict that continues to convulse the Democratic Republic of Congo — leavened by some sweet humour and an affirmation of the potency of love.
Mama Nadi is the owner of a successful brothel. She takes pride in its cleanliness, and insists that her belligerent patrons surrender their ammunition on arrival. As they drink beer and gyrate salaciously, the evidence of warfare is never far away — and it’s imprinted in the fearfulness of Mama’s girls and the exaggerated swagger of the men who come to sample them.
We focus on three of these girls: fragile Salima, hard-nosed Josephine, and clear-voiced, grubby Sophie. Each is in her own way tragic but Sophie, "ruined" by men who violated her with their bayonets, is the most forlorn, eternally damned simply for being a victim.
The interactions between these three and Mama drive the story. The women are treated as property, and this reflects the larger ills of a society that, in its rich supply of raw materials and resulting lawlessness, resembles the Wild West.
There are sympathetic performances by Jenny Jules as Mama, a slinky version of Brecht’s Mother Courage, and Lucian Msamati as Christian, a poetic Mr Fix-It. The thuggish soldiers are played with sinewy conviction; Steve Toussaint is particularly effective, suggesting a mixture of suave menace and heady rage.
Also impressive is Kehinde Fadipe, whose dance moves as Josephine are startlingly lithe. Michelle Asante convinces as Salima, and Pippa Bennett-Warner, fresh from drama school, is poised and affecting as Sophie, delivering with charm some fine original songs by Nottage and Dominic Kanza.
This is an exceptionally powerful piece of writing, and Indhu Rubasingham’s direction proves pulsatingly intelligent, while the rough and unfamiliar setting is brilliantly realised by designer Robert Jones. At times, Ruined may be sentimental and preachy, yet it satisfies deeply.
Until June 5. Information: 020 7359 4404.
Ruined
Almeida Theatre
Almeida Street, Islington, N1 1TA
