Exclusive: UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon

One of the most popular and compelling stories on New York’s Off-Broadway, Ruined was praised by audiences and critics alike for highlighting a story that is becoming increasingly more relevant and tragic as civil war in parts of Africa rages on, the story is about violence against women.  United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon was there to see the play first hand and help highlight its important message, “I myself have visited Democratic Republic of Congo twice already […] and I had an opportunity over meetings and seeing for myself all this human tragedy.”

The 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded to this groundbreaking play, Ruined.  The production, co-sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioners Office for Human Rights and Equality, caught the critics attention receiving five 2009 Outer Critics Circle Award nominations including, Outstanding Off-Broadway play, making it one of the most highly awarded plays of the season.  Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was in the front row to see the production and performances, “You know that my office the High Commissioners Office for Human Rights and Equality co-sponsored this play called Ruined, and I think it’s a very powerful play.  It tells you just intimately the impact of sexual violence on women.”

Lynn Nottage, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who spent extensive time in East Africa researching and compiling material to help write the dynamic female characters, had much to share, “Ruined began when I took a journey to East Africa to interview Congolese refugee women who were fleeing the armed conflict there […] and when I got to the region and began hearing the narratives of the women, I discovered that there was a story that was really quite specific to that region, and it was a story of sexual abuse and violence that was directed specifically toward women.”

Ruined follows Mama Nadi, a women who owns a brothel in the Congo that is frequently visited by the very men stirring the conflict in the region.  The brothel also acts as a safe haven for women trying to flee the conflict, but when the war outside starts to encroach on Mama Nadi, she is forced to deal with its bloody reality.  Along with most of the audience, United Nations High Commissioner Navi Pillay, was moved by the powerful performances and characters in the play, “There was just four actors playing the soldiers, and you would think there was a whole army out there, that’s how powerful their performance were.”

The Secretary-General who has visited the region several times also commented on the moving scenes and important message theater can provide, “This drama will give a very powerful message, this is a very compelling story, which everyone should know that there is such a world where there are so many people that need our hands, our helping hands.”