RUINED by Lynn Nottage, directed by Philip Akin, with Yanna McIntosh, Sterling Jarvis, Richard Alan Campbell, Sabryn Rock, Andre Sills and Sophia Walker. Presented by Obsidian in association with Nightwood at the Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley). Opens Thursday, January 20 and runs to February 12, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Wednesday 12:30 pm, Saturday-Sunday 2 pm. $15-$35. 416-368-3110. See listing.
Among the casualties of war, women are often the most brutalized.
Last year’s production of Erin Shields’s If We Were Birds explored that toll by making its chorus a group of women drawn from centuries of battles fought by men.
Now Obsidian and Nightwood Theatre collaborate on Ruined, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage (Intimate Apparel) set in a brothel in the Democratic Republic of Congo run by the indomitable Mama Nadi, played by Yanna McIntosh.
Nadi keeps her women safe amidst factions battling for political power and control of the country’s resources, but at a price.
“All the men in the play are looking to capitalize on the Congo’s situation,” says Sabryn Rock, who plays Sophie, one of Mama Nadi’s charges.
“Nadi is one of those rare women who take advantage of the men and deal shrewdly with local politics.”
Sophie is a “ruined” woman, raped by a bayonet and no longer able to have sex, but Nadi uses her as a second in command in the brothel’s hierarchy, or, as Rock phrases it, her “sub-matriarch.”
“Sophie sees a lot of herself in Nadi. She wants to take control of her life and looks to Nadi as a model. She’s had a more privileged upbringing than the others in the house, for which some resent her. But because of her intellect, she’s also looked up to and has the makings of a leader.”
Not everyone is so fortunate. Salima, taken in by Mama Nadi along with Sophie, was raped by soldiers and kept for months as their concubine. Returning home, she’s rejected by her family and village.
“Salima is a country woman,” notes actor Sophia Walker, “ripped from a moment of time in her life when she was happy. Nadi immediately recognizes her as a worker because of her rough hands.
“She looks up to Sophie as a kind of big sister, but Salima’s quick to defend herself. I can’t be intellectual in playing her she lives in her body and reacts instinctively to how she’s treated.”
Sophie’s uncle, Christian, saved both women by taking them to Nadi.
“If he hadn’t done that, they would be living in a bush on the side of the road, fending for themselves,” nods Rock, “but he’s also sold them into a life of servitude.
“Still, this is a world where everyone is constantly backed into a dangerous corner. Christian’s a salesman, and on one of his visits to the brothel he’s almost beheaded by a 12-year-old child soldier with a machete.”
Having performed Shakespeare (National Theatre School grad Rock with Driftwood Theatre and Ryerson grad Walker at Stratford), both actors see the influence of poetic classical theatre in Ruin’s rhythms and imagery.
Even so, they know it’s hard to sell a show that deals with rape and war.
“Not everything in the play is dark and negative there’s also light and hope,” says Rock.
“And while there’s reality to their story,” adds Walker, “the production doesn’t portray these women as victims.”
Additional Interview Clip
The Music of Ruined
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
