From Terror to Hope.

By Racheal Myers

When was the last time you visited a brothel to contribute to a worthy cause? If you attended the benefit performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Ruined” at Frostburg State University Performing Arts Center’s F. Perry Smith Studio Theatre, then you can proudly answer, 7:30pm on December 7, 2011.

As has already been implied, “Ruined” takes place in a brothel. This brothel, known as “Mama Nadi’s”, is located in the present day, war-torn Democratic of the Congo on the continent of Africa. “Mama Nadi’s” is owned and operated by women whose bodies have been abused by rebel and government soldiers. The stories of these women’s struggles lead the play through the terror of war and rape and reward the viewer with the healing power of hope. All the events in the production are based on interviews taken by the plays writer, Lynn Nottage, while in the Democratic of the Congo. The proceeds from the December 7^th showing are all being donated to the charity City of Joy, a shelter which helps the women of the Democratic of the Congo rebuild their lives.

Attendees become immersed in the atmosphere of ‘Ruined” from the moment they step into the F. Perry Smith Studio Theatre. To get to their seats, play goers must walk through either a hallway made to look like a dusty storage area, with shelves holding jugs, and mops leaning against the walls, or a outdoors scene that later proves to be the outside of “Mama Nadi’s”. As they exit these walkways, they are met with the open floor plan that is typical of a studio theater. Instead of a traditional auditorium set up, with all seats facing one direction with the stage in front, the seats in a the studio theater are along the walls facing the middle of the theater which is where the action takes place. In this case, the seats are facing what is made up to be the bar area of “Mama Nadi’s”. There is a bar and a stage with stereo equipment and microphone stand, two small sets of table and chairs, and a pool table. From the ceiling hang make-shift rafters, and strings of multi-colored lights, similar to Christmas lights. The air is thick with dust and herbal cigarette smoke, finishing off the authentic feel of a bar.

The opening scene of “Ruined” introduces the four main characters of the play. It begins with a dialog between Mama Nadi, the brothel’s owner, and Christian, the man who supplies the brothel with all that it needs; condoms, soap, Mama Nadi’s red lipstick, and women. He is the one who brings the other two main characters, Sophie and Salima to work for “Mama Nadi’s”. Both Sophie and Salima have suffered horribly at the hands of the soldiers that are ravaging their country. Salima, as is found out later in the play, was attacked by four soldiers while in her garden. The soldiers killed her baby in front of her as she was being raped, then took Salima captive for five months. During her captivity, she was chained by her foot to a tree, “like a goat”, and was used to satisfy the soldier’s sexual desires whenever they came to her. When she finally returned to her village, her husband, Fortune, told her that she dishonored him because so many men had been with her. He chased her out of the village. Sophie is what the people of that area call “ruined”. The soldiers who attacked her “took her with a bayonet”, making her unsuitable for work as a prostitute. Mama Nadi almost refused to take her in, but made an exception because Sophie is Christian’s niece. Sophie turns out to be an asset to the brothel in that she can count the money that is brought in and she sings beautifully.

Throughout the play, both the rebel soldiers and the government soldiers frequent “Mama Nadi’s”, though neither side knows it. Both sides speak of how the other are degenerate monsters and how their opponents will all be dead at their hands. Many of the soldiers are violent and domineering toward the women working at “Mama Nadi’s”, but there are a few that are admittedly “simple farmers” that feel as if they were thrust into the fighting. One such soldier is Fortune, who shows up at “Mama Nadi’s” because he has heard that his wife, Salima is there. Mama Nadi turns Fortune away and Salima’s request, saying that the person he is looking for is not there. Fortune stays camped outside “Mama Nadi’s” in hopes that Salima will appear. The play reaches a climax when a group of soldiers, lead by Commander Osembenga, is tipped off by Fortune that the opposing force of Jerome Kisembe maybe hiding at “Mama Nadi’s”. They ransack the brothel looking for them, but instead find a disheveled, blood soaked Salima. Having seemingly aborted the baby she was secretly carrying, she cries “you will not fight your battles on my body anymore”, and dies in the arms of her husband.

While the battle still rages across the country, after Salima’s death, all is quite at “Mama Nadi’s”. Christian tries his hardest to convince Mama Nadi to leave her brothel while she can, but she refuses, saying that while the soldiers have taken everything else from her, she will not let them take away her hard work. Then Christian tries to convince Mama Nadi to do something else. He tries to convince her to be his beau. After she exhausts all excuses, she finally breaks down and amongst sobs, explains that she, like Sophie, is ruined. Despite danger being outside their door and the state of everything within sight being “ruined”, the play ends on a high note, as Christian and Mama Nadi dance, basking in the possibilities their future may hold.