This past Monday night, The Kennedy Center and the Enough project presented a staged reading of Ruined, the play that earned the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
The playwright, Lynn Nottage, who once worked for Amnesty International, traveled to Africa where she interviewed women from the Congo, Somalia and Uganda to get insight into their experiences. Nottage also interviewed male soldiers who she felt were able to "divorce themselves" from the crimes that they had committed.
It was interesting that Nottage chose the word "divorce" to describe how male soldiers who committed atrocities such as repeated rape and mutiliation against women in places like the Congo.
In Ruined, women who were victims of sexual violence turn to prostitution because their options are few since they are considered to be damaged goods. Nottage notes that the women she met were ruined, "completely--physically and emotionally," the damage was all-encompassing and that in many ways the country's culture as a whole was devastated as well.
When asked what she thought about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's pledge to aid the women of the Congo, Nottage felt that it was "really quite amazing that or Secretary of State has taken a really sttong stance." Since Nottage has also heard stories firsthand, she added that she couldn't imagine that Clinton was not moved when she heard those testimonies.
"This country can do small things that will have a huge impact--like providing an army of doctors and psychologists," says Nottage. For her, these things are very tangible and very doable and would help the country more than financing peacekeepers, who she feels replicate the violence of the rebel soldiers.
For her part, Nottage decided to write a play, noting that "theatre is one of the few places where you can have a communal conversation--the audience is witness and participant in the storytelling process."
And Nottage has taken this conversation all over the world. She has been invited to do readings and stage parts of the play in Malaysia and Uganda and hopes to eventually stage the play in the Congo.
In Cambodia, she was there when four female directors took on different scenes from Ruined. The play was translated into Khmer and Nottage says, "They knew the play." There was no need to explain what was happening or go over cultural nuances because the women there related to the suffering of the characters.
It is unfortunate that this type of suffering is universal, but if we can find common ground in our pain, perhaps we can find ways to prevent similar horrors.
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