ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT was born in Brooklyn in 1964. She is a playwright and screenwriter whose work often deals with the lives of women of African descent. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Nottage is a graduate of Brown University and the School of Drama, where she has been a lecturer in playwriting since PRIME TIME 2014-2015 SEASON 2001. She is also an Associate Professor of theatre, teaching graduate playwriting at Colum- bia University School of the Arts. She has received numerous awards and grants including a Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Genius Grant Fellowship, National Black Theatre Fest’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, and Visiting Research Fellowship at Princeton University. She won the in 2009 for . Production Staff Stage Manager...... Kierdre Howard Lab Theatre Technical Director...... Jennifer Eccles Lab Theatre Coordinator...... Justin Fragiao Staff Costume Shop Manager...... Hannah Schauer Galli Wardrobe Supervisor...... Alexander Johnson Faculty Consultants...... Paul T. Mitri, Lurana Donnels O’Malley, Tammy Haili opua Baker, Cheri Vasek, Brian Shevelenko, DeAnne Kennedy Front of House Staff Staff Theatre Manager...... Marty Myers Staff Box Office Manager...... Nicole Tessier Box Office Supervisor...... Heather Kalehuawehe Box Office Staff...... Jennifer Belon, Clementine Butter, Leah O’Gorman, Mark Shiroma Publicity Director...... Kevin C.K. Berg Publicity Assistant...... Jennifer Takahashi Graphic Designers...... Daniel Smith, Aliyah Zeinfeld Photographer...... Chesley Cannon Kennedy Theatre House Manager...... Kay Linan Lab Theatre House Managers...... Malia Ngaluola, Aubrey Watkins Department Office Staff...... Lori Chun Department Chair...... Paul T. Mitri

Acknowledgments The UHM ticket program is supported in part by a grant from the Student Activities and Program Fee Board. Kennedy Theatre is a member of the Hawai`i State Theatre Council. SeptemberSeptember 17,17, 18,18, 19*,19*, 2020 atat 8:00pm8:00pm Front of House Information For large print programs, assistive listening devices or any other accessibility requests please contact a House Manager or call the Kennedy Theatre Box Office at 956-7655. SeptemberSeptember 21,21, atat 2:00pm2:00pm To arrange a Campus Security Escort from any two points on campus please see a House *Post-show*Post-show raprap Manager. As a courtesy to your fellow audience members and to our performers, please remember ByBy Lynn Lynn NottageNottage that eating, drinking and use of cell phones and other electronic devices is not allowed inside the theatre. Please take a moment to turn off any sound or light emitting devices. Video recording and photography of this production are strictly prohibited. Visit us on the web at http://www.hawaii.edu/kennedy Like us on facebook: facebook.com/UHMKennedytheatre Department of Theatre and Dance College of Arts and Humanities Artistic Staff Director’s Notes Director Troy M. Apostol* Assistant Director Maseeh Ganjali At various points during the rehearsal process people have asked me: “Why this show? Why now? What relevance does it have to Hawai`i?” Scenic Designer Darlene “Cap” Tomas Costume Designer Stephanie Jones I don’t know anyone from the Congo (well, up until rehearsals). I’ve never been Lighting Designer Falcon Aguirre to Africa. I’m as knowledgeable as any Hawai`i-raised American on the war-torn Sound Designer Brian Shevelenko Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is to say not very. The country and Choreographer Susan Veney its political turmoil is a virtual mystery to me-- something to be witnessed on CNN news reports from behind the impersonal safety of a TV screen.

Cast The whole thing is strange and foreign and troubling, and has no relevance to life here in our happy little island home. Mama Nadi Lillian M. Jones Christian Quantae Love And that’s pretty much how I felt five years ago… before I saw this show. But Sophie Denali Lukacinsky after watching a production of the play in New York, the gut check clicked and Salima Alexis Harvey something shifted in my views. Josephine Susan Veney As I watched the story unfold, I began to see those commonalities and shared Mr. Harari Neal Milner experiences that connect people as a whole: the hopes and dreams of individuals Jerome Kisembe Brandon DiPaola struggling to survive, the joy and celebration of world-weary souls at play, the Rebel Soldier #1 Alioune B. Diop painful promise of unrequited love. Rebel Soldier #2 Aaron Anthony Harper Commander Osembenga Q. The human saga-- people not so different from you or me. The only difference was that these men and women became trapped in a world where corruption Gov. Soldier #1 Darwin Alexander Pringle and decades of fighting have destroyed the fabric of society to the point where Gov. Soldier #2 Ted Guillory terrorizing militia raids are common, and where rape—against women, men, and Fortune Q. Treyvon Love even children—has become accepted as the norm. Simon Geovanté Joseph Aid Worker Maseeh Ganjali In this far off distant land, rape is used as a tactic of war. It is in fact so widespread that women actually expect that they will be raped in their lifetime. It is a place where victims of the worst forms of this brutality have undergone horrific genital Setting: A small mining town, Democratic Republic of Congo. mutilation and internal trauma (fistula: the tearing of the flesh separating the Time: Present day. bladder and rectum from the vagina), and as a result their communities have This show will be performed with one intermission. shunned them and cast them aside. They have been deemed “ruined.”

Ruined is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Playwright Lynn Nottage, in creating the script, collected first-hand accounts Service, Inc., New York. from actual refugees-- women who had survived these kinds of horrific acts. This play was made from real stories belonging to real people, not faceless The World Premiere of Ruined was produced by The Goodman Theatre: victims from behind the TV screen. And by giving a voice to the voiceless, we hope that you will take a moment to think about the kinds of violence against Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Producer; women that transpires right here in Hawai`i. We hope that the gut check clicks and : Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, and you speak out against rape here in our happy little island home. Executive Producer Enjoy the show. Ruined was commissioned by The Goodman Theatre. Troy M. Apostol Please join us after the Friday evening performance for a free post-show discussion.

*In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Fine Arts Degree This show includes adult content and simulated smoking.